CTIA

CTIA's fall show, dubbed MobileCon, kicks off Oct. 8 in San Diego. As in past years, CTIA's fall event will focus mainly on mobility in the enterprise, with a dash of mobile content and smartphones for flavor.

Remember the "spectrum crunch?" The FCC and its chairman, Julius Genachowski, have for years been hitting on the theme that the U.S. is dangerously close to running out of spectrum for mobile broadband, which is why the FCC's 2010 national broadband plan calls for freeing up 300 MHz of new spectrum for mobile broadband in five years and 500 MHz in 10 years. The CTIA has been making the same argument. But is the spectrum crunch still real? Was it ever?

A federal appeals court blocked San Francisco from enforcing an ordinance that would have required retailers to post signs and information warning customers of the potentially harmful effects of cell phone radiation. The court said that the city could not force retailers to distribute messages they disagree with. Meanwhile, the wireless industry's trade group stayed quiet in the wake of the ruling.

CTIA has rebranded its fall trade show "MobileCon" as it focuses squarely on the enterprise market in the hopes of attracting a more focused audience to a show that has been searching for a clear identity.

Verizon Wireless has integrated the CTIA Mobile Application Rating System into all apps available for download from its Verizon Apps storefront, making it easier for consumers to identify age-appropriate content.

The four top nationwide wireless operators are concerned about liability issues stemming from a proposal by the Federal Election Commission that would allow consumers to make campaign donations via text messaging.