Washington, DC, May 26, 2004--The executive management of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition (OFC) and the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (NFOEC) announced plans to combine the two events into one comprehensive conference and trade-show exposition to take place March 6-11, 2005 at the Anaheim Convention Center (Anaheim, CA).
To remain focused on its core business in telecommunications software and services, Telcordia Technologies (Piscataway, NJ) has turned over assets and management of its NFOEC event to OFC. Owned and managed by the OFC organization, the combined OFC/NFOEC event will provide a detailed view of communications-related optical technology in terms of the latest research and commercial products and services. The stand-alone NFOEC meeting, originally planned for September 12-16 in Anaheim, will not be held. Instead, it will take place in combination with OFC in 2005, and Telcordia Technologies, Inc., the previous owner and sponsor of NFOEC, will continue to offer recommendations on programming content and audience outreach together with OFC management.
The OFC event is managed by the Optical Society of America (OSA) and cosponsored by OSA, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Communications Society (IEEE/ComSoc), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (IEEE/LEOS).
"In its early years, NFOEC's primary audience was the Regional Bell Operating Companies. While continuing to serve the needs of network carriers, over the years the conference has greatly expanded its reach to become an international event serving CLECs (competitive local-exchange carriers), long-distance carriers, and the broad range of facilities-based network operators," said David Arbach, Professional Services, Telcordia Technologies. "We believe that the combined event is an important next step in the expansion of NFOEC's reach and is consistent with the evolution of the communications industry."
OFC/NFOEC 2005 programming and special-event announcements will be released in the coming months. The 2005 conference will feature an exposition, plenary session, peer-reviewed technical programming, workshops, short courses, and special focus sessions including OFC's Market Watch: Business & Technology and the Service Provider Summit.
