DALLAS-Among the ever-present winds of Eastern Texas, The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association last week hosted a somewhat intimate Wireless Agenda 2001 conference that CTIA President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Wheeler dubbed the “wireless survivor conference” during his opening remarks.
While attendance levels for the show may not have hit expectations, the quality of many of the panels more than made up for vacant seats during the sessions.
While admitting the slowing U.S. economy was having an impact on the wireless telecommunications sector, Wheeler said those in attendance should use the time to focus on their disciplines that will bear fruit in the long run. As an example, Wheeler noted Japanese wireless operator NTT DoCoMo was posting continued strong growth of its i-mode services in the face of economic duress.
Wheeler also used his time to again point out the United States’ lack of sound spectrum policy in regard to wireless communications and explained foreign countries are taking advantage of that problem to capture the additional worldwide lead in wireless technologies.
“Internet companies prospered in the U.S. because they had sufficient infrastructure in their backyard,” Wheeler said. “Foreign countries have taken notice of that and have taken a page of our play book and provided sufficient spectrum for wireless development. If that doesn’t change, development in the U.S. will be seriously affected.”
Jumping off on the spectrum issue, Coleman Bazelon, spectrum policy analyst for the Congressional Budget Office, moderated a panel on Spectrum Valuation in the U.S. Budget. In addition to providing insight into how the government factors in money raised through spectrum auctions into the budget, Bazelon echoed Wheeler’s notion that when the government is looking at a budget shortfall, its first response is to call for a spectrum auction.
Bazelon also pointed out the recent auction of PCS licenses may mark the high point for some time in regards to money spent on spectrum.
“If we were to re-evaluate [the licenses] again, they would probably go down,” Bazelon said.
Another hot topic discussed at the conference was the role mobile virtual network operators may play in the development of wireless Internet offerings. In addition to providing network operators with an additional revenue stream, MVNOs are expected to expand wireless offerings to segmented markets often overlooked by large wireless operators.
“No self-respecting wireless operator today or 3G operator in the future will be able to survive without a [MVNO] partner,” proclaimed Steven Day, corporate affairs director for Virgin Mobile.
Day noted MVNOs will only work in developed markets, like the United States, but was not able to provide any additional information regarding Virgin’s planned entrance into the U.S. market. While many have speculated the announcement is expected to be with Sprint PCS, Day would only say it would be announced in the coming months.
While Virgin is confident there is a place in the United States for MVNOs, others at the conference were not so convinced.
“I think we do a pretty good job of marketing already,” said Andrew Willett, vice president of business development for AT&T Wireless Services. “But, they might work for smaller markets.”
Lisa Hook, president of American Online Mobile, was even less convinced, noting she did not see the advantage of MVNOs.
“I just don’t see what the advantage is to selling the same thing established wireless operators already offer,” Hook said.
