CTIA Wireless 2005 Adds Its Own 'Spice' To New Orleans
By Jim Pomager
Senior Editor
In the weeks leading up to CTIA Wireless 2005, all signs pointed to a wireless industry revival. In mid-February, the 3GSM World Congress 2005 in Cannes, France, drew more than 34,000 participants -- a 20% increase over 2004 and record attendance for the event. That seemed to kick off a steady stream of good news across the sector... The GSM Association reported that 3GSM experienced a 500% annual growth rate in 2004. One report predicted that China's rapidly growing communications industry will top $68 billion in sales in 2005, while another announced that worldwide Wi-Fi equipment revenue hit $2.8 billion in 2004. And the week before CTIA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) put ultra wideband (UWB) on the fast track by waiving certain measurement procedures for the multiband orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) standard. Would CTIA Wireless, the self-proclaimed "largest wireless show in the world," be able to carry the baton?
I'd say so.
More than 35,000 attendees (myself included) and 900 exhibitors converged at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, from March 14 to 16, to see the latest and greatest in wireless technology. Optimism ran amok -- nearly everyone I met agreed that the industry had "turned the corner" after a four-year downturn. And the Convention Center's 1.1-million-square-foot Exhibit Hall bore testament to their claims.
Handset manufacturers erected prefab castles, thousands of square feet large, to draw attention to their wares (and away from their rivals!). Some of the more blatant attempts at booth one-upmanship included: a two-story waterfall that dropped liquid words and shapes, 10-foot-high cell phones with huge color screens, a second-floor coffee bar serving espresso and cappuccino, all manner of shiny new cars and motorcycles, break dancers (yes, break dancers)... and almost anything else you can imagine. CTIA even got into the action, building a 7,000-square-foot Wireless Home at one end of the Exhibit Hall, showcasing a wide variety of applications, products, and devices for the wireless dream house.
The spectacle didn't end on show floor, but rather spilled over onto the streets of New Orleans. It seemed as if every bus, taxi, even bicycle in the city was plastered with ads for mobile phones and wireless services. On Bourbon Street, every other person I passed was adorned with some type of blinking or beeping CTIA trade show trinket (in addition to requisite Mardi Gras beads).
One night, as I ate dinner on a restaurant balcony overlooking the crowded street, I noticed a group of men dressed in black wandering among the throng of wireless executives and spring break college students, trying to get everyone's attention. What ultimately made them successful, I think, were the advertising messages flashing across flat-screen monitors that extended over each man's head from metal poles strapped to their backs.
The jockeying for publicity (and associated expenditures) seemingly knew no bounds -- at least for one week in New Orleans, as CTIA Wireless 2005 added some spice of its own to a city known for its distinct local flavor. But I believe that the bright lights and upbeat sounds were indicative of something even bigger: a global wireless industry clearly on the rebound.
For more news, products, and sights from the event, check out "CTIA Wireless 2005: Notes (And Pictures) From The Exhibition Floor" and "CTIA Wireless 2005 Photo Documentary".