In what is perhaps a concession to the dominance of CES and Mobile World Congress at the mobile industry’s idea exchange in the first half of any given year, CTIA-The Wireless Association has announced that it will merge its biannual trade shows into one, targeted for the fall. The first CTIA “super mobile” show, CTIA 2014, will take place Sept. 9-11 at the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas.
The association said that CTIA 2014 will take the best of its flagship spring CTIA Show, which is focused on technology and consumer electronics, and merge it with the fall MobileCON event and its emphasis on mobile IT solutions, applications and the mobile enterprise.
“The wireless industry is evolving rapidly and there is a need to have a show that centers on the entire global mobile ecosystem in a way that hasn’t existed among the current shows, which is why CTIA 2014 will be unique,” said Rob Mesirow, CTIA vice president and show director. “The mobile revolution is positively affecting nearly every industry, such as M2M, connected home, media and advertising, money and global consumer electronics, and CTIA 2014 will serve as a worthy platform to showcase those companies and individuals that are leading this charge and will be a valuable resource for anyone wanting to be a part of this innovative industry.”
He added, “In addition, the timing of the 2014 show will deliver the perfect stage for companies to debut mobile consumer products and services for the annual holiday buying season.”
CTIA will continue to host CTIA 2013 and MobileCON 2013 separately while incorporating what it calls “super show programs” as a springboard to the changes in 2014.
CTIA has gathered a few endorsements on the move: “As Sprint and the wireless industry are helping other sectors improve the way they do business and their customer relationships, we needed a trade show where we can showcase our offerings and capabilities, from consumer to healthcare to the connected home, at one place. CTIA 2014 will play a key role in our company’s plans for announcing the latest innovative products and services,” said Fared Adib, senior vice president of product development and operations at Sprint.
Angel Ruiz, president and CEO at Ericsson, offered this statement: “CTIA’s decision to consolidate the wireless shows is exactly what the industry needed. CTIA 2014 takes the best from the specialized shows while bringing all of the right people together at the same time and place so everyone’s time can be optimized.”
