The FTTH Council Europe has announced that it will postpone the annual FTTH Europe Conference and exhibition until early December in the wake of the current Coronavirus crisis.
The event, which was to have taken place from 21-23 April in Berlin, will now go ahead from 1-3 December, at the same location. This follows cancellations and postponements of a number of events across Europe, including MWC, which should have taken place in Barcelona in February.
A statement from the organisers of the conference said: ‘According to the World Health Organisation and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the new cases of COVID-19 infection throughout the EU have been increasing exponentially daily for the last few weeks, which inevitably raises concerns regarding the safety of the attendees and participants of large conferences and exhibitions. Moreover, several prominent shows and trade fairs have been cancelled or postponed due to the accelerating spread of the virus, and Switzerland and France have banned all major events gathering a large number of people.
‘The FTTH Council Europe is committed to delivering an excellent and successful event in conditions where meetings can be held, interesting and topical discussions can take place, business decisions can be made and partnerships and alliances can emerge and enrich the industry. Our top priority, therefore, is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all the FTTH Conference attendees. It is also important to highlight that amid coronavirus concerns many companies and organisations that are to attend and exhibit at the FTTH Conference have been forced to install so-called “No Travel Policies”, which would potentially prevent some participants from attending the Berlin Conference.’
The organisers went on to say that it has been and continues to monitor the development of the current circumstances in consultation with Messe Berlin, public authorities and expert advisors. ‘Our goal,’ said the statement, ‘is to deliver again a pre-eminent fibre and digital policy summit that represents relevant elements of the industry value chain and we want to ensure that the FTTH Conference 2020 becomes a memorable, fruitful and safe experience to every attendee. FTTH Conference Berlin Postponed to 1-3 December 2020. We thank all our members, sponsors, speakers, partners and attendees for their continued support and we look forward to continued cooperation to deliver another outstanding FTTH Conference 1-3 December 2020.’
