NEW ORLEANS – CTIA reconfigured its now annual carrier keynote panel at this year’s trade show, moving what had been a morning affair to the afternoon of the first official day of the event. And despite some initial sluggishness, the roundtable format dug into some of the issues facing the industry’s top carrier execs.
While AT&T’s attempt to acquire T-Mobile USA hung over last year’s keynote, this year was influenced by “4G” marketing claims and spectrum concerns.
Similar to last year’s event, CNBC’s Jim Cramer again was the ringleader for the roundtable panel. After some initial softball questions that allowed the execs to further pontificate on presentations made earlier in the keynote session, Cramer got down to business.
The interrogation began with the obvious question as to what happened since the last time these people met on stage, this time with the addition of T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm. At last year’s event, Humm was pulled from the roundtable panel at the last minute following AT&T’s bid to acquire its smaller rival made on the eve of the show.
Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse, who led the charge against the proposed deal, joked that Humm attendance last year was in that he was tied up and gagged behind the stage.
AT&T noted that the reason it wanted to acquire T-Mobile USA was because it needed additional spectrum assets in order to continue supporting the growing demand for mobile data services. All seemed to agree that the demand remained, with hopes that the federal government would be able to shake some megahertz loose.
Cramer also took Verizon Wireless to task on claims that it had a disproportionate share of spectrum compared to its rivals, a claim that Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead refuted.
“We don’t have the most spectrum,” Mead retorted. “We have the most efficient use of spectrum.”
This topic has gained steamed as of late due to Verizon Wireless’ current attempt to secure 1.7/2.1 GHz spectrum from a handful of cable operators as well as its concession to sell off some of its 700 MHz spectrum assets if those deals are approved by regulators.
Speaking on the topic of LTE services, Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead noted that the carrier currently carriers about 60% of the world’s LTE traffic on its network, a testament to its early lead in deploying the technology.
Cramer also tweaked the AT&T Mobility/T-Mobile USA relationship a bit when he asked for de la Vega’s response to the latest T-Mobile USA commercial that indicated inferior network speeds for AT&T Mobility’s iPhone customers in relation to T-Mobile USA’s HSPA+-based “4G” network. De la Vega simply cited a recent survey conducted by PC Magazine that showed the carrier’s LTE network provided the fastest data speeds in a number of top markets, while also pointing out that the current iPhone is limited to HSPA speeds of 14.4 megabits per second on the downlink, something that is expected to be rectified with an LTE-equipped iPhone launch later this year.
Cramer also used the marketing efforts as an example of confusion being caused in the minds of consumers over what exactly “4G” is. The line of questions fed off of comments made by Hesse who cited a recent customer perception survey that found consumer trust of mobile carriers below the likes of the cable and oil industries.
Hesse admitted that carriers were partly to blame for consumer confusion over the “4G” term that has permeated all marketing efforts. This seemed like an appropriate admission considering Sprint Nextel is seen as the first carrier to begin touting “4G” in its advertising with the launch of its WiMAX service in 2008.
“Our Achilles Heel is trust and reputation,” Hesse explained, adding that he did not think that reputation was deserved.
Cramer also got Humm to provide some potential sources of additional funding to secure the carrier’s future and help with its self described re-starting efforts, including the potential sale of its towers, which has been rumored for some time. Humm did not, however, bite when Cramer put out the potential of an initial public offering for the carrier, something that has become a hot topic as of late due to Facebook’s impending IPO.
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