CTIA has rebranded its fall show to CTIA Enterprise & Applications to reflect large-scale industry trends around the use of wireless technology, such as cloud computing, healthcare and transportation.
CTIA's fall show was launched 15 years ago and has gone through multiple iterations. The show began in 1995 as Wireless Apps and was replaced by Wireless I.T., which later was changed to Wireless I.T. & Entertainment.
"Trade shows evolve ahead of the industry," says CTIA show director Rob Mesirow. "At this point, it's all about data ARPU and that's really what this show is targeted for."
Mesirow says the show has gravitated toward the business segment. At last year's fall show, 23 percent of the 15,000 attendees were from the enterprise space.
"We are getting a lot more CIOs, CTOs and IT workers that are really interested in exploring how to integrate wireless into the enterprise," he says. "This isn't a restructuring; it's just a rebranding to better reflect what's happening inside the event. A lot of the changes have already transpired."
The event will be similar to last year's Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show but is expected to have more educational sessions dedicated to corporate use of wireless technology.
"Trade shows at their best... are an engine of commerce and a way to educate on a mass scale," Mesirow says. "That's what we strive to do at this event."
Show partners include the American Telemedicine Association, the Wireless Industry Partnership and the Telecommunications Media Group.
The event will be held Oct. 6-8 in San Francisco, Calif.