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TheBuzz

BY ERIKA ENGLE

Telecommunications
conventioneers gird
for Hawaii battle

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The clash of the titans comes to PTC 2003 -- the Pacific Telecommunications Conference, which begins Sunday at Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Attending telecom carriers' warriors will doff any perceived calm exterior, check pocket protectors at the door and get ready to rumble at a foosball tournament hosted by Arbinet-thexchange.

The foosball fisticuffs unfurl in the exhibition lounge Monday and Tuesday afternoon, on eight tables provided by manufacturer Bonzini USA.

Competing teams will consist of two lead players and two alternates and the team left standing after the table-soccer smackdown will win two digital cameras.

"We always try something new every year," said Puja Borries, PTC marketing and communications officer. She credited Arbinet public relations agency STC Associates for bringing the foosball festivities to Hawaii.

"It's another opportunity PTC offers its attendees to network and play together, which will make it easier to do business," Borries said.

The rest of PTC will be more brains than brawn with more than 40 concurrent workshops, sessions, panel discussions and displays by 50 exhibitors.

More than 60 countries and 700 global telecom carriers will participate.

Voices unite on diversity

More than 2,100 public comments have been filed so far in the Federal Communications Commission's review of media ownership regulations. The outcome could affect Honolulu's television market, where Emmis Communications Corp. owns both KHON and KGMB under a temporary waiver of the rules.

Many comments are from interested companies, organizations and coalitions, but many are from individuals. The vast majority of individuals crying out for diversity of media ownership and content have done so using one of about three form letters, altered either slightly or not at all.

How you figgah?

Comments may be viewed at gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi by entering 02-277 in the "proceeding" box.

Comments may be filed at www.fcc.gov/ownership.

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Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com