CTIA is a trade association representing the wireless communications industry in the United States. The association was established in 1984 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is a

501(c)(6) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. S ...

nonprofit membership organization, and represents

wireless carriers A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier, is a provider of wireless communications services that owns or controls all the elements necessary to sell ...

and suppliers, and manufacturers and providers of wireless products and services. CTIA operates certification programs for the wireless industry and publishes wireless industry surveys. It has also sponsored various public service initiatives related to wireless. It was originally known as the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association until 2004, and later the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association. The organization has since operated under its initialism only, but subtitled as CTIA – The Wireless Association until 2015.

History

CTIA was established in May 1984 as the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. In 2000, the organization merged with the Wireless Data Forum and became the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association. Its name was changed to CTIA—The Wireless Association in 2004. Tom Wheeler served as chief executive officer (CEO) of CTIA from 1992 to 2004. He was appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate in November 2013. Steve Largent became president and CEO in November 2003, serving until 2014. Meredith Attwell Baker became CTIA's president and CEO in June 2014.

Issue advocacy

Spectrum

When Baker was named president and CEO, she identified spectrum as a policy priority. She has testified before United States Congress on the issue. In a March 2016 media call, Baker said the industry is ready to invest billions of dollars to fund spectrum and new infrastructure. She suggested the "spectrum pipeline should become a national priority" because "100 MHz of spectrum is equal to $30 billion to the economy and 1 million jobs." In 2016, CTIA released reports outlining the importance of U.S. leadership in 5G and high band spectrum. CTIA praised the FCC's unanimous vote in July 2016 to allow wireless operations above 24 GHz.

Broadband and net neutrality

CTIA supported the FCC retaining "the 2010 open Internet order's 'mobile specific' approach to egulationsgiven the 'unique engineering, competitive and legal conditions' of 4G LTE, rather than a one-size-fits both wired and wireless approach", in a letter from Baker to

Rep. Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

Greg Walden ( R- Ore.), chairman of the House Energy Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, in September 2014. In January 2015, Baker testified on the importance of an open Internet but against the reclassification of mobile broadband as a Title II ( common carrier) service under the

Communications Act of 1934 The Communications Act of 1934 is a United States federal law signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 19, 1934 and codified as Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code, et seq. The Act replaced the Federal Radio Commission with ...

at a hearing held by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. Two months later, CTIA, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), and USTelecom, filed legal challenges against the FCC's net neutrality order reclassifying broadband under Title II.

Wireless infrastructure

CTIA has helped lead efforts to remove regulatory barriers, at all levels of government, to the deployment of wireless infrastructure, particularly

small cell Small cells are low-powered cellular radio access nodes that operate in licensed and unlicensed spectrum that have a range of 10 meters to a few kilometers. In other words, they are base stations with low power consumption and cheap cost that ...

s and distributed antenna systems (DAS).

Industry trade shows

CTIA has organized trade shows for the wireless industry, including the CTIA Wireless Show, and MobileCON. In January 2013, it was announced that both events would be replaced by a new event known as CTIA Super Mobility, first held in September 2014. The following year's conference featured 1,000 exhibitors and attracted 30,000 visitors. In June 2016, CTIA announced a partnership with the GSM Association, under which Super Mobility Week would be re-launched as

Mobile World Congress MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show organised by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry. The event is held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain at the Fir ...

Americas beginning in 2017.

CTIA Wireless Foundation

CTIA's nonprofit organization, CTIA Wireless Foundation supports initiatives that use wireless technology to assist communities. The foundation partnered with

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

to create the "Text2HELP" program to help aid victims of the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

, and the

2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...

. The program enabled wireless customers to send text messages to make donations to

' relief efforts. The foundation is a major sponsor of PulsePoint, a no-cost app that alerts users of nearby cardiac arrest emergencies so they can offer first aid before first responders arrive. The foundation also supports "text4baby", a no-cost mobile texting program that provides information to parents and caregivers on prenatal care and baby health and parenting.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:CTIA - The Wireless Association Telecommunications organizations Wireless networking Trade associations based in the United States Trade shows in the United States 1984 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 1984 501(c)(6) nonprofit organizations Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.