There is a certain sense of anxious anticipation in Chicago this week as the first Globalcomm show is launched. Officials of the sponsoring Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) are cautiously optimistic--pre-registration is running close to expectations, the initial block of hotel rooms is sold out and more than 725 companies are exhibiting at Globalcomm and the concurrent Outside Plant exhibition.

The big question, though, is whether this trade show and conference retains its status as a service provider event. There is certainly a significant service provider presence from the U.S. and abroad. About 15% of attendance is international, including major service providers from Europe (BT, France Telecom), Asia--the Chinese have a major delegation--and elsewhere. AT&T will also have a significant presence, as almost 1000 employees are expected.

But there is also a big push for enterprise customers, particularly in Chicago and the Midwest, and TIA has made no bones about its aspirations in this area. The question remains whether Globalcomm can succeed in serving both masters, and generating the kind of floor traffic necessary to keep its diverse set of vendors happy.

As for what to expect on that trade show floor, here are a few glimpses:

Smaller switches and bigger, better routers: Nortel is introducing a new small switch aimed at the Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, and Coppercom will announce it just sold a whole slew of them to the IOC market. On the other hand, Cisco will be saying that its CRS-1 now has 5 of its 50 service provider customers deploying double chassis configurations.

Major test market activity: There will be significant announcements of new test tools, including lots of stuff related to Ethernet.

Ethernet everywhere: Ethernet is being transformed from a best-effort technology into the model business service for data, voice and video. Equipment vendors such as Actelis, Adva Optical Networking, Alcatel, MRV Communications and Ciena are all making Ethernet announcements.

WSS ROADMs: Or reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers with wavelength selective switching, for the acronym challenged. Ciena, Tropic and Nistica are among the players here.

IPTV to spare: Companies like Juniper Networks are unveiling their IPTV strategy while Microsoft will be touting its deployment with AT&T.

E-mail me at Cwilson2@prismb2b.com.