Day two’s CTIA keynote speakers are as follows: Dan Hesse, CEO Sprint Nextel Corporation, William Morrow, CEO Clearwire Corporation, Réne Obermann, CEO Deutsche Telekom AG, Jon Stanton, Chairman of the Board Trilogy International Partners, and Padmasree Warrior, CTO Cisco. Hit the break for the live updates!
8:47 AM: We’re here, and we’re close.
8:50 AM: This thing kicks off at 9:00AM PT so just a little bit longer.
8:59 AM: We snapped a pic with AT&T’s Mr. de la Vega. Sadly the person who took the photo didn’t know how to focus our SLR…
9:00 AM: Ralph told us to “be nice.” We will!
9:02 AM: Steve Largent of CTIA is on… here we go
9:03 AM: He’s talking about an anti-texting-while-driving campaign, with video.
9:04 AM: http://www.besmartwireless.com is the site to hit if you are interested on the CTIA’s thoughts on safe wireless use.
9:05 AM: Steve is now explaining the text2help program that allowed users to donate after disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti.
9:06 AM: $32 million raised via wireless donations for Haiti. A Red Cross representative is on screen thanking everyone for their generosity.
9:11 AM: John Stanton and Brad Horwitz of Trilogy Wireless are on. They operate cellular networks in impoverished countries, including Haiti
9:12 AM: “Wireless breads democracy” cites incidences in China and Iran from this year.
9:18 AM: Trilogy’s wireless network was the only wireless network functioning after Haitian earthquake.
9:19 AM: 2/3 of Trilogy staff were homeless, 1/2 of staff had lost an immediate family member
9:20 AM: Voilà is the name of the network that Trilogy runs in Haiti
9:20 AM: Talking about how Voilà’s network was able to help get Haiti back on its feet. Free airtime, connecting banks with microwave signals so they could start lending, wireless terminals for field hospitals.
9:22 AM: Seeing video about cellular being a lifeline in a disaster. Again, video of Haiti.
9:27 AM: Thanking other wireless companies who assisted in their effors in Haiti
9:27 AM: Over 100 people in Haiti were saved by calling or texting from the rubble.
9:29 AM: Steve’s now back up on the stage.
9:30 AM: Dan Hesse is on stage.
9:30 AM: Question: “How will 4G help consumers more than 3G?”
9:31 AM: He is wearing Van sneakers, mentioned them by name, showed them off, gave them a plug. Gangsta.
9:32 AM: Answer to the 4G question: 3G was 5x better than 2G but 3G is getting exhausted by demands for multimedia. 4G is built for the multimedia environment. Pictures, video, and growth in user base.
9:34 AM: “We can get a gigabyte out of 4G cheaper than we can get a gigabyte out of 3G”
9:35 AM: Dan feels that in 2 years voice minutes and text messages will be a given, they will be unlimited. Consumers/companies will be worrying, “how many gigabytes do I have left in my bucket.”
9:36 AM: Question: What about spectrum?
9:36 AM: Answer: Spectrum is a valuable resource. U.S. is most competitive wireless market in the world. My predecessors had the foresight to go get more spectrum which allowed us to move to 4G.
9:37 AM: Question: Why did Sprint chose WiMax?
9:37 AM: Answer: It was all about go-to-market time. We could go 4G with WiMax or wait for other technologies.
9:38 AM: Hesse: We have enough spectrum where we could add another technology if necessary. Time-to-market was the driving factor in choosing WiMax
9:38 AM: Hesse: LTE will probably be the larger of the two standards.
9:39 AM: Question: Why did you chose to deploy WiMax through Clearwire?
9:39 AM: Answer: When you combine Sprint’s spectrum position with Clearwire’s spectrum position it put us in the strongest place for the future.
9:41 AM: Dan just made a Carl Sagan reference. Plus he keeps showing us that he has an HTC EVO 4G in his pocket. We’re jealous.
9:42 AM: “Medical is a huge vertical.”
9:43 AM: “As an industry healthcare spends 2-3% on IT as opposed to 6-8% from the rest of the industry.”
9:45 AM: Talking about the EVO’s ability to connect up to 8 Wi-Fi devices. Nurses and doctors in the field can connect to a phone and get additional resources.
9:50 AM: Dan Hesse will be the Chairmain of CTIA next year.
9:50 AM: And that’s it for Dan Hesse, up next CEO of Clearwire, Bill Morrow
9:52 AM: “We are the network of networks.”
9:52 AM: We are going to open that network up to all others who are interested.
9:52 AM: Not just wireless companies, “we are the catalyst for change.”
9:53 AM: Talking about managerial experience managing companies overseas.
9:54 AM: Talking about regulatory wireless policies in Japan vs. U.K.
9:57 AM: Clearwire’s though from the beginning, “we started with the latest technology available, WiMax…then we said what about the backhaul…we came up with a microwave ring architecture…this thing is infinitely scalable.”
9:59 AM: Quoting reports saying the average data card uses 1.5Gb of data per month and a wireless provider can only provide around 3 GB/month and still stay profitable.
9:59 AM: Average Clearwire customer uses 7 Gb/month and are still profitable.
10:00 AM: Question: “Anything you can share about your customers 4G usage pattern?”
10:00 AM: Answer: “We see a future where every consumer will have internet connectivity via broadband. iPad and Kindle are just the beginning. We are talking to others that are going to change the way we think about data, I hope I can announce those later this year.”
10:04 AM: “We have customers who use a terrabyte of data per month, think about that. It doesn’t scare me.”
10:06 AM: Question: “What is your perspective on the potential conflict between LTE and WiMax?”
10:06 AM: “People believed that CDMA and GSM were going to kill each other. Or EVDO and UTMS. It is a market big enough to sustain two standards.”
10:07 AM: “Either one of these technologies can deliver what consumers want. We can sunset one technology for another in the future if we need to.”
10:08 AM: “What we should be thinking about is how can we leverage these two technologies to get world wide roaming, and world wide coverage. That is what consumers want.”
10:09 AM: Mentions company in CA that has a chip that does both LTE and WiMax
10:11 AM: Bill’s all done.
10:11 AM: Up next Réne Olbermann.
10:12 AM: Ooooh, a Matrix video
10:16 AM: Making a joke about not gambling because “German’s are prudent.” They also lack a general sense of humor.
10:16 AM: Showing data points: Non-Voice ARPU $14.60/month in U.S. and $8.60 in Europe
10:18 AM: Previous years were about growth. Now it is about loyalty and ARPU
10:22 AM: Mobile data trafic worldwide will be up 131% from 2008 to 2013
10:25 AM: Talking about German’s making very good cars and how BMW is a partner in getting mobile broadband in a car.
10:27 AM: Data consumption by device chart
10:28 AM: T-Mobile U.S. will have 8.3 million smartphones by next year.
10:29 AM: Talking about HSPA+ network expansion
10:30 AM: “This T-Mobile network maybe become, for a number of years, the most competitive network in the United States.”
10:30 AM: “HSPA+ could be upgraded to over 50 Mb/s”
10:32 AM: Talking about regulation vs. investment.
10:34 AM: The gentleman next to us smells really, really bad. He’s also the same one who couldn’t focus our camera earlier. Thanks, guy.
10:36 AM: Talking about open partnerships between multiple companies.
10:37 AM: We love what Réne is saying, it is just very dry.
10:38 AM: Just referred to Apple and Google as “over the top players” in the electronics industry.
10:40 AM: He’s now talking about T-Mobile’s partnership with Android. Currently have 5 handsets, nostalgia about the G1…
10:41 AM: Réne is wrapping up…
10:41 AM: That’s all for us. Thanks for tuning in!
