The 40th anniversary edition of ITU Telecom World opened its doors today to participants from across the globe including 250 top leaders from government, the private sector and the global technology community.

The event, which is being held in Geneva from 24-27 October, is bringing the brightest minds and most influential leaders together to debate the key issues that will shape the future of an industry that now pervades virtually every field of human endeavour.

A vibrant opening ceremony sponsored by China Mobile, the world\'s largest mobile operator with over 600 million subscribers, featured President Ali Bongo of Gabon; Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji; Igor Shchegolev, Minister of Communications and Mass Media, Russian Federation; Doris Leuthard, Head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, Switzerland; Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Saud Al-Thani, Chairman, Qatar Telecom; Jianzhou Wang, Chairman, China Mobile; and Dr Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General, ITU.

As handheld devices grow ever more sophisticated and demand for content-rich services such as mobile video increases, mobile data traffic is likely to continue growing at an explosive rate. This represents good news for the industry, but next-generation wireless technologies will need to be ready to meet the challenge and able to cope with these increased demands on bandwidth. The TD-LTE spectrum workshop looked at the potential of TD-LTE technology to take us on to the next stage of wireless communication.

Viewpoints were shared on the status of the technology, with key players such as Mr Li Yizhong, former MIIT Minister, Mr Wang Jianzhou, Chairman of China Mobile, Mr Sun Lixin, Vice President Huawei Wireless Network, Chairman of APT AWG presenting views from China, and speakers from France\'s ARCEP, Ericsson and Poland presenting views from around the world.

Moderating the first part of the workshop, ITU Deputy Secretary General Houlin Zhao opened with an overview of TD-LTE and how it offers the potential for utilizing unpaired spectrum and enhancing operational efficiency.

Former MIIT Minister, Mr Li Yizhong outlined the impressive steps China had already taken in terms of TD-SCDMA network rollout and the measures, policies and actions which were helping ensure its smooth deployment. Already providing a significant boost to China\'s GDP growth and creating jobs, China is now in the process of TD-LTE testing and rollout across the country, with ITU Secretary General Dr Hamadoun Touré noting, in his opening address to the session, that he had taken part in a test trial for the technology in Shanghai in 2010.

China Mobile\'s trial of TD-LTE has gone "smoothly" so far, according to Chairman Wang, with the company now preparing for a fuller promotion. Worldwide, the technology is being rolled out in a number of countries including Japan, Saudia Arabia, Sweden, Poland and more.

The issue of international collaboration and cooperation for a global TD-LTE rollout was stressed throughout. Mr Li Yizhong called for "a strong global industrial chain and joint efforts of the industry to promote the standard, which would be critical going forward."

Chairman Wang outlined how China Mobile is cooperating with a number of countries worldwide. Underlining the need for cooperation, he explained how his dream was for "one device that could be used around the world," and how he believed that this would come true in a 4G era.

Currently accepted by ITU-R as an IMT- Advanced candidate technology, an issue which will be high on the agenda of the upcoming ITU World Radiocommunication Conference in 2012, the session summed up the potential that TD-LTE offers in delivering next-generation wireless services, the current state of play, and how sustained international cooperation and debate will help usher in the next generation of wireless technology.