Welcome to Las Vegas and TELECOM 05!

Fasten your seatbelt because we have a lot in store for you this week: an exhibit floor that is a true reflection of todays converged marketplace; keynote speakers from across the new communications landscape; in-depth conferences on hot industry topics; and key policymakers discussing whats next for the rapidly innovating world of converged communications.

TELECOM 05 brings together every aspect of the industry to focus on the future of your business and our industry. We have assembled here in the desert a new communications forum that unites the diverse elements of our industry, that recreates on our exhibit floor the integrated voice, video and Internet marketplace in which all of our companies do business today and that welcomes new voices from the industrys leading edge, at this show on the IPTV and broadband video frontier.

This afternoon, we will hear from four individuals who truly have their finger on the industrys pulse the chief technology officers from BellSouth, Qwest, SBC and Verizon. These executives make important technology and purchasing decisions for their companies every day and they are here to give us all a glimpse of what the future has in store. Then, join us this evening for the TELECOM 05 Exhibit Hall Preview Party and you will be among the first to see the innovative technologies on display.

Tomorrow morning, three industry titans, SBC Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre, Cox President and CEO Jim Robbins and Bell Canada President and CEO Michael Sabia will join the conversation, sharing whats next for their leading-edge companies. As carriers focus on video, we will follow these talks with a leading voice from the broadcaster community David Barrett, president and CEO of Hearst-Argyle. We will conclude tomorrows session with a panel of innovative content players, led by Robert Clasen, president and CEO of Starz Entertainment Group. Throughout the week, you also will hear from key policymakers, including FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, and see demonstrations from pioneers Alcatel and Microsoft.

Of course, TELECOM 05 is just a sneak preview. We hope you like what you see and join us in March for the launch of our new annual show TelecomNEXT.

TelecomNEXT will continue to expand on the hallmark of our annual gatherings an unrivaled buyer presence. The new show also will be on a far larger scale: more leading industry executives, more visionary speakers and demonstrations and more envelope-pushing exhibitors from around the world. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.telecom-next.com.

We are enthusiastic about building a new kind of trade show that truly reflects the rapidly innovating and converging communications marketplace in which the entire industry does business today. We are building a unique forum that brings together leading executives and decision makers with the innovative suppliers and service providers that can help them take the next step in their business plans. For the next four days, we will focus together on the future, so our companies can define whats next, rather than be defined by it. Thank you again for joining us.

Walter B. McCormick Jr.

President & CEO, USTelecom