Special Report Intro

CTIA WIRELESS 2009®: A look back at this year's event

The CTIA WIRELESS 2009® in Las Vegas earlier this month featured more than 1,200 exhibiting companies and about 35,000 attendees from 125 countries, according to show statistics. Several industry leaders took the keynote stage to share their wireless vision and discussed the challenges and opportunities for the wireless sector. Former Vice President and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore provided an engaging presentation for a packed house on the show's final day, highlighting the industry's highly competitive nature, the invaluable role it will play in the nation's economic resurgence and the vital part the wireless industry has in helping to solve the climate crisis. Besides this wrap-up report, you can watch the Post-Show Highlights Webcast, which features extended keynote video excerpts, one-on-one interviews with industry insiders from the CTIA Buzz Zone, insightful podcasts, access to the cameraphone photo gallery, a show overview video and much more.

During the show, CTIA-The Wireless Association® announced the latest wireless statistics, which included wireless-data revenue totaling more than $32 billion for full-year 2008, a 39% year-over-year increase. "Wireless technology is an integral part of everyday life for more than 87% of the U.S. population; changing and improving the way we connect and interact with the world around us," said Steve Largent, president and CEO. "The wireless industry consistently evolves, innovates, competes and grows every year at a rapid pace, and 2008 has carried on this remarkable trend."

Innovations in wireless technology were celebrated at the 4th Annual CTIA Emerging Technology Awards. Top Global was honored with the Best in Show award for its 3G UFO Personal Hotspot, which provides instant mobile access to the Internet. More than 40,000 combined online and text votes submitted by CTIA show attendees and wireless-industry professionals determined the Best in Show winner. Nearly 300 applications were submitted in 18 categories for judging for the 2009 event.

Make plans now for this fall's CTIA WIRELESS IT & Entertainment 2009® in San Diego, Oct. 7 to 9, and for International CTIA WIRELESS 2010®, which is scheduled for Las Vegas, March 23 to 25 -- find out more. And in the meantime, the CTIA SmartBrief Special Report below is a handy recap of the biggest stories from this year's show.

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News from the Show

Analysts: Phone makers have reason to cheer
Analysts said cell phone companies have good reason to be optimistic. Samsung is upbeat about its second-half launch of Android-based phones for Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile while Nokia executives said their new U.S. strategy of catering to each carrier individually has already begun to pay off in the wake of its debut of the E71x smartphone with AT&T. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (4/2) Forbes (4/2) Bloomberg BusinessWeek (4/2) PC World/IDG News Service (4/2)

RIM's App World makes debut at CTIA
Research in Motion launched its online App World market, offering an array of downloads to BlackBerry users and a slightly higher cut of the revenue -- 80% -- to developers than they get through the iPhone App Store. There are other differences from the Apple online market: BlackBerry users must sign up with the PayPal online commerce site and apps are either free or cost $2.99. Reuters (4/1) PC Magazine (4/1) The Washington Post/PCWorld (4/1)

CTIA seen as start of LTE era, data-pricing overhaul
The 4G standard known as Long-Term Evolution took center stage at this year's conference as attendees sensed the industry was embarking on a new era, not only technologically but also how services are priced. LTE's huge bandwidth also led a Motorola executive to predict handset makers would soon place video front and center on their devices, rather than voice or data. Network World (4/3)

Handset launches heavy on touch screens, smartphones
New handsets debuting at CTIA WIRELESS 2009® tended to feature touch screens and smartphone functionality. NPD stats indicate that touch-screen-enabled handsets accounted for 20% of new handset sales in Q4 2008, up from 7% in 2007. TWICE (4/1)

AT&T: Networked devices are future of electronics
AT&T said that developers were working on technology that would link wireless devices to a broad array of consumer-electronics products, a move that could lead to changes in how the carrier charges for connectivity, from a straight flat monthly fee to offering more per-use options. Computerworld (4/2) The New York Times (free registration) (4/2)

Speakers

Industry leaders call for more innovation
The wireless industry must continue its innovation march to help curb the effects of the poor economy, according to several industry heavyweights speaking at the show in Las Vegas. "These are tough times, and we are all eager to move to more brighter and prosperous times ... and we have a chance to be the driving force in getting the U.S. economy off the ground," said Robert Dotson, CTIA's chairman and CEO of T-Mobile USA, who called on the industry to be entrepreneurial, to invest in high-speed broadband and to provide care for individual customers. Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg agreed: "Wireless innovation has been a foundation of our country's prosperity for the last 25 years, and I'm confident that this great and vibrant industry will continue to be a leader as we put our economy back on the path to growth." MocoNews.net (4/1) CNN/CNET (4/2)

Keynote: Gore links wireless to saving planet

Former Vice President Al Gore extolled wireless technologies during his keynote, telling conferees that "wireless is going to be one of the key tools that we use to solve the climate crisis." Gore compared the wireless revolution to such breakthroughs as the printing press and radio. CNET (4/3) Wireless Week (4/3) Telecommunications Online (4/3)

• Find out more: The CTIA Blog discusses how "Gore Hits Wireless Homerun!" during his keynote address.

Clearwire eyes Silicon Valley as apps testing ground
Clearwire and three of its partners will test applications developed for 4G wireless over a WiMAX network they plan to build in Silicon Valley, Clearwire Chairman Ben Wolff disclosed during his keynote address. Wolff also touted his company's main advantage over the rival Long-Term Evolution standard, saying it has more spectrum, which enables Clearwire to deliver faster and more reliable service. MocoNews.net (4/2) PC World/IDG News Service (4/2) Light Reading Mobile (4/2)

By the Numbers

CTIA: U.S. wireless-data revenue blossoms in 2008
The wireless industry reported growth in 2008, according to a report from CTIA-The Wireless Association®. The report offered the following statistics for full-year 2008:

• U.S. subscribers totaled more than 270 million.
• More than 2.2 trillion minutes were used by wireless subscribers in the U.S.
• Wireless-data revenue jumped 39% to more than $32 billion.

CTIA Resources

CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2009®
CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2009® is set for Oct. 7 to 9 in San Diego. The event will focus on applications, network architecture and technologies such as LBS, machine-to-machine and WiMAX, bringing together a community of users, carriers, developers and manufacturers. Find out more.

CTIA WIRELESS 2010®
CTIA WIRELESS® 2010 will take place in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center, March 23 to 25, 2010. Find out more.

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