Special Report Intro

International CTIA WIRELESS 2009® preview
Mobile Life!
CTIA-The Wireless Association® is holding International CTIA WIRELESS 2009® in Las Vegas, April 1 to 3. The event will explore the evolving world of "Mobile Life," with a primary focus on mobile health, intelligent transportation and smart energy.

As always, the CTIA keynote stage will play host to some of the wireless industry's brightest minds and innovators and include fascinating perspectives from other top executives as they collectively answer the question of what "Mobile Life" means to them.

The show will kick off with a stream of wireless-industry heavyweights: Steve Largent, CTIA president and CEO; Robert Dotson, 2009 CTIA chairman and T-Mobile USA president and CEO; Mike Lazaridis, Research in Motion president and co-CEO; and Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon Communications chairman and CEO. Day 2 keynotes will feature executives from Clearwire, Microsoft and Scripps Translational Science Institute. The event will wrap up with a Day 3 keynote from Honorable Al Gore, who will address issues of conservation, social responsibility, smart energy and the smart business behind green projects.

The conference portion of the show will cover all aspects of the wireless universe, including software and applications, enterprise, entertainment, m-commerce, marketing, public policy and social networking.

There also are more than 1,200 exhibitors signed up for the event.

In anticipation of the conference, we are pleased to offer CTIA SmartBrief subscribers and conference attendees a glimpse into how the conference topics relate to the latest news in your industry. It's not too late to register to attend this must-attend industry event.

If you don't receive CTIA SmartBrief on a daily basis and find our show preview useful, we urge you to sign up for our timely e-newsletter. CTIA SmartBrief delivers the stories making news in your profession directly to your inbox -- for FREE.

The Blueprint of Convergence

Rush for mobile apps blurs business lines
Technology and mobile companies are increasingly moving in on one another's established territories because of the exploding popularity of smartphones and downloadable-application markets, according to industry observers. At stake is a share of the growing revenue from mobile-data services at a time when highly profitable businesses -- like selling handsets -- have begun to mature. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (3/6)

• Application Platform Development -- Opening the Door to the Future: Today, new applications are driving consumer use of the network. This panel of applications and systems providers and device manufacturers will discuss the processes and value-chain interdependence that support application development and delivery from the network to the consumer. Find out more.

Greater mobile, video ties coming, Skype says
EBay expects its Skype VoIP unit to gross $1 billion in 2011, the company said recently in laying out an ambitious three-year growth strategy that includes expansion into IP-based video and mobile businesses on both the consumer and enterprise sides. "Skype's leadership position has strengthened over the past year, driven by a new management team and the launch of many innovative products," eBay stated in its road map. Light Reading (3/12)

• VoIP -- Delivering Voice or ... Much More?: This session focuses on the technology-related issues to providing this IP-based voice service on today's network. The panelists will highlight their 24-month road maps and share predictions of the next five years in VoIP. Find out more.

Developing Business on Mobile

ABI to app-storefront makers: It's about ease of use
Smartphone companies looking to jump into the field of application storefronts will be pleased to know that more consumers are showing interest in applications, according to ABI Research, but the firm noted that ease of use was an important driving factor for adoption. "Most consumers are still discovering how their device use can be expanded and customized. A fair amount are still not aware of capabilities new software can provide," said ABI senior analyst Jeff Orr. InternetNews.com (2/25)

• Application Storefronts: The Store Front has been available for mobile users to download wallpapers, ringtones and static content for nearly five years. However, in the wake of the success of the iPhone in accessing applications via this delivery method, Applications Storefronts are now all the rave. This panel of experts has experienced the development and growth of this access tool and will discuss its learnings as well as debate the future possibilities for Application Storefronts. Find out more.

Survey: Mobile users want basic video included in data plans
A survey by QuickPlay Media indicates that 35% of wireless subscribers are watching mobile TV and video on their phones and that 48% of respondents would sign up for a voice-and-data plan if access to some basic video content was included in the plan at no extra cost. The reason more people have not subscribed to mobile-TV and video services is their perception of the costs, QuickPlay found. Multichannel News (3/10)

Mobile Video -- Enabling Consumers to Use the Mobile Screen:
This session features the full spectrum of mobile-video players as panelists and will offer insights into future trends of partnerships in this area. Particular note will be made of the expectations for user-generated video. Find out more.

Cell phone applications could offer health care solutions
Mobile-telecommunications technology increasingly is being harnessed to provide medical services in both impoverished and wealthy countries. The United Nations and U.K.-based Vodafone Group have released a study on such applications, focusing on 51 projects in 26 countries in the developing world, including India and Uganda. The two organizations, along with the Rockefeller Foundation, also announced a collaborative effort called Mobile Health Alliance. Google/Agence France-Presse (2/18)

• Health Care -- An Industry Vertical Using Cellular Successfully: Commercial adoption of wireless solutions has had variable rates of uptake. The health care industry as a whole was an early adopter of wireless, and this session will highlight specific cases of success. This group of panelists, including health care professionals, will consider a variety of business and technical challenges confounding the selection process along with a variety of wireless-deployment solutions that have been adopted by the industry. Find out more.

Partnerships Growing Mobile

What smartphones tell advertisers
For marketers, smartphones are a potential treasure trove, because they not only contain information about a user's mobile Web surfing habits and favorite applications but also his or her exact location. While privacy advocates are concerned about the potential for intrusiveness, for mobile marketers, location-based advertising is something of a holy grail. Eric Bader, managing partner of Brand in Hand, said, "Everyone's in an arms race to find out more and more about their users." NYTimes.com (3/11)

• Mobile Marketing: The State of the Art: A multitude of companies are stepping forward with highly successful marketing campaigns via mobile technologies. This cast of marketing experts will delve deeply into the critical issues that affect a company's ability to leverage mobile marketing, including what is working and what is not. Find out more.

Mobile banking poised for growth
Mobile banking is on pace to reach 900 million in 2014, representing an 89% compound annual growth rate compared with 2008 totals. "Mobile handsets are in an excellent position to become the primary digital channel for providers of banking and related financial services on emerging markets," said Berg Insight telecom analyst Marcus Persson. V3.co.uk (U.K.) (3/16)

• Mobile Money -- Transacting Money via Mobile Banking: This panel will discuss insights into functionality to conduct bank and stock market transactions, administer accounts and to access customized information. They will examine when and how money will be mobile and offer an overview of the inhibitors and impediments to be overcome before full-scale adoption. Find out more.

Gearing up for Las Vegas

International CTIA WIRELESS resources

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