Berge Ayvazian, Ex-Yankee Group CEO and Veteran Telecom Analyst and Consultant, to Join Light Reading

NEW YORK, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- TechWeb's Light Reading (http://www.lightreading.com/), the leading research-led media company serving the global communications marketplace, today announced that Berge Ayvazian, one of the highest-profile industry analysts and consultants in the telecom and mobile industry, has joined Light Reading as a Senior Consultant with its telecom business technology research unit, Heavy Reading.

Ayvazian has spent more than 20 years conducting research and consultation projects focused on mobile broadband business strategies for all of the major telecom equipment vendors and a Who's Who list of the largest service providers in the world. In his tenure at Yankee Group he held a number of positions, including CEO from 1999 to 2001 and Strategy Director for the Reuters Research and Advisory Unit.

At Heavy Reading, Ayvazian will be leading a new integrated research and consulting practice on 4G Network and Mobile Internet Evolution. This practice will help operators develop their 4G technology roadmaps based on Heavy Reading research on packet core, service platforms, and mobile backhaul, and then build a complete mobile Internet business case by leveraging worldwide demand-side research on 4G and mobile Internet service adoption from Pyramid Research, the world's leading authority on emerging telecom markets and service opportunities, which was acquired by Light Reading in 2008.

Ayvazian will also have a regular column on Light Reading and will participate in its Webinars, podcasts, videos, and select conferences. He is a frequent speaker at telecom industry events, and has served as contributing editor of the 4G Trends newsletter and co-chairman of the 4G World, WiMAX World, and Mobile Internet World conference programs, which were operated by Trendsmedia, Yankee Group's events group. He will remain on the 4G World Advisory Board.

"We are very excited to have Berge Ayvazian join our Heavy Reading team of industry-leading senior analysts and consultants," says Joseph Braue, Group Director and SVP of Light Reading. "As an integrated research and media company, we provide the perfect platform for Berge to use his strategic insight and experience in the mobile and telecom industries to meet the complete research and marketing needs of the entire mobile Internet ecosystem, including service providers and the vendor community that serves them."

Berge Ayvazian will be based in the Pyramid Research office in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About Light Reading

Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the $3 trillion worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading's research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis for more than 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces nearly 20 targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit @ CTIA, as well as focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005 and operates as a unit of TechWeb.

About TechWeb

TechWeb (http://techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events, Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, and Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services including next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections

About United Business Media Limited

UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetisation of B2B communities and markets. UBM's businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities -- from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists -- with integrated events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com.

    CONTACT:
    Amy Averbook
    Director of Corporate Marketing
    Light Reading Communications Group
    O: +1-212-600-3373
    averbook@lightreading.com

SOURCE: Light Reading

Web site: http://www.lightreading.com/