This edition of the three-yearly International Telecom Union (ITU) Telecom World show will be the biggest yet and is where the sector's power-brokers will come to strike deals and meet government regulators.

Among the guest speakers are John Chambers, chief executive of Cisco Systems, Mark Hurd, chairman and chief executive of Hewlett Packard, Richard Li, chairman of Hong Kong's PCCW and Edward Zander, chief executive of Motorola.

China's top legislator, Wu Bangguo, was to start the event late on Sunday as guest of honour at a gala opening ceremony, while the trade deals and speaker events kick off on Monday and end on Friday.

The ITU Telecom World is also where the leading brands unveil new designs and technology. Some some 600 of the world's leading technology companies from 40 different countries will exhibit including Microsoft, Agilent, Sony Ericsson and Mitsubishi.

The event coincides with the release of an ITU report Sunday that showed digital technology had permeated almost all aspects of our lives thanks mainly to the spread of mobile phones, which are now owned by about two billion people worldwide.

"We're in the midst of a digital revolution," said Lara Srivastava, one of the authors the report entitled "Internet Report 2006: Digital.Life".

One person in two on the planet is expected to be a mobile phone user within two years, said the report.

"Around one in three people on the planet own a digital mobile phone today and they're hard pressed to be separated from it," Srivastava said.

The ITU estimates that Internet and communications technology markets -- consumer electronics, broadcasting, telecoms, computers and services -- are worth about 3.13 trillion dollars or 7.0 percent of global Gross Domestic Product.