Kolkata will host the ICE (Information Technology, Communications and Entertainment) summit on 18-19 November this year.

Organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Summit will try to forecast the period of the ongoing global slowdown and the effects of the events of September 11.

The summit will focus on ways in which Indian companies can shift their focus away from the USA and reduce our dependence on the superpower. The Convergence Bill will be discussed with respect to its benefits to consumers and suppliers. The consequences of the bill and the role of the proposed regulator will be examined. It will also look at the viability of the bill, given the shifting media scenario in the country.

Broadband, the new mantra of the Indian entertainment sector, will also be tackled head on. Other topics that will discussed include business ideas and latest technologies for the Internet as well as the increasing importance given to wireless. It will also analyse consumer and producer trends. The dotcom collapse will be looked into, and new markets that infotech companies can tap will be explored. The summit will showcase corporate conglomerates which are using the web to expand their customer base.

Some personalities expected to put across their point of view include actor Aamir Khan, RPG vice chairman Sanjiv Goenka, Reliance Telecom president Subodh Saxena, Bharti Enterprises MD Sunil Bharti Mittal, SET CEO Kunal Dasgupta, Zee CEO R K Singh, Balaji creative director Ektaa Kapoor, and UTV Net Solutions CEO Biren Ghose.