CTIA - The Wireless Association

CTIA - The Wireless Association - Right, here is the official CTIA report on the latest numbers of mobile phone users. What's even more interesting, is the 97% increase in text messaging - now THAT's impressive. Again, what is fueling these jumps? Are we seeing saturation/tipping points going off, or is there something else driving these developments? Of course, there is always the danger of wireless providers taking this as a sign for more "features" . In a somewhat timely manner, Nokia CEO Jorma Ollila re-iterated that phones are mainly for talking and THEN everything else, not the other way around - Forbes

Then again, the wireless industry has happy and not so happy things happening. For example this worries me:
The emergence of mobile phones as a marketing tool has been a hot topic at CTIA WIRELESS 2006 in Las Vegas. Several interesting deals have been announced at the show, including a pact between Sprint Nextel Corp. and Luxor that sends mobile coupons to Luxor guests. Experts caution that consumers could view mobile ads as an intrusion if marketers expand into wireless too quickly. USA TODAY (4/5)

While this makes me smile:
"PayPal launches mobile payment service: PayPal today is expected to announce PayPal Mobile, a service that allows mobile phone users to make payments to retailers or individuals via their handsets. Several companies including MTV, L'Oreal and Air Jordan Nike have already signed up to let customers use the service. " The Washington Post

That's because I WANT to be able to do things that are convenient for me - like pay via paypal with my phone if I happen to forget my wallet or, in the future, not have to bring the damn thing (I am a girl, my pockets are too small for both the phone and the wallet!).

At the same time I DO NOT WANT to be interrupted by text messages that advertize something to me. I am more averse to that, I think, than to junk mail or junk e-mail or junk phone calls (for the latter, there is a "phantom land-line" solution - a phone line that never rings). In fact, I might even go as far as turning the SMS capability completely off if I get too inundated by advertisements (and that's coming from an SMS junkie, no less).