We all know that LTE is the next big thing in the world of wireless networks. Mobile data demands are on the rise and LTE promises the 'true mobile broadband' experience needed to keep the people happy. However, mass adoption of LTE is still a few years away. Until then, CDMA operators are focusing on how to manage growing numbers of subscribers and higher network usage with today's technology.

Operators all over the world are seeing high demand in their CDMA markets. In fact, according to CDG, CDMA subscribers are projected to grow from 480 million users today to over 700 million subscribers by 2013. With this growth come the challenges of how to manage higher network usage while maintaining or growing revenues. Can operators do this with CDMA? Yes. The technology, although mature, still has a lot of life left in it. Advances in the efficiency and capacity of CDMA networks, including the data-supporting EV-DO networks, allow operators to continue meeting user demands while still generating revenues from their networks.

Ahhh Springtime... warmer days, green grass, birds chirping... and tradeshows - lots and lots of tradeshows.

Next week we march into the busiest events week of the year with stops in Orlando for VoiceCon, Washington for Cable Show 2009, and Vegas for CTIA. Be sure to check Buzzboard for more from the showroom floors - photos, videos, demos and on-site reports - but for now, here's a snapshot what's what next week:

CTIA Wireless 2009 - one of the year's best opportunities to engage face-to-face with current and prospective wireless customers. We'll be showing off our latest around GSM, CDMA, and especially LTE. The big focus though, will be on what has become the omnipresent question for operators - "Exactly how do we turn all these cool VoIP and multimedia applications into revenue?" And we'll also be looking at opportunities around mobile social networking and entertainment - see more here.

As Mobile World Congress winds down in Barcelona, we've wrapped up more than 200 customer meetings and rubbed shoulders with a wide array of partners, industry analysts and news media. Mike Z met personally with customers across Europe, the Middle East, Israel, Australia, Africa, Mexico and Nortel America.

Our message at the show was frank and straight-forward - we're working through big challenges, but Nortel is open for business and committed to driving innovation.

This morning at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Verizon CTO Dick Lynch announced the vendors they had selected for Verizon's initial LTE network deployment. Nortel was not one of the vendors selected for the next round of Verizon's LTE deployment.

For some of you, the initial reaction to this news might be to question the future of Nortel in LTE -- but that would be a case of jumping to conclusions. While Verizon's announcement certainly isn't the news we wanted, it doesn't mean that success in the LTE market is no longer possible for Nortel.

No surprise, the universal topic hanging over Mobile World Congress this year is today's challenging economic climate, fueling widespread discussion on how the mobile industry can best compete in such a tough environment.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer went so far as to say that it's a "super interesting time to talk about the mobile industry". Microsoft is making a big push at MWC this year to drive uptake for their mobile platform, Windows Mobile, in an attempt to take a bigger bite out of Apple's iPhone success.

It's that time again - Mobile World Congress (formerly 3GSM World Congress) combines the world's largest wireless exhibition with an executive congress that brings together leaders across mobile operators, equipment vendors, application developers and IT powerhouses.

Nortel's theme this year is 'Generation after Generation... Innovative Communications' and we're showcasing our latest wireless technologies, carrier VoIP applications, and new services along with a heavy dose of LTE.

Next week the mobile industry elite will gather once again in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress - the wireless industry's largest trade show.

Mike Z and senior Nortel executives will be meeting with dozens of our biggest customers, and we'll be showcasing our latest wireless technologies, including world firsts in next-generation video and LTE, new carrier VoIP applications, and new services designed to help our customers cash in via new revenue offerings. For more info on our presence at MWC, check out our show announcement.

If you're interested in the 4G wireless market -- as well as Nortel's participation in it -- then today there were a variety of articles from different pubs that are worth a read. Here's a quick run-down:

• Light Reading has this article that summarizes various LTE vendors, including Nortel.

• Telecoms.com talks about how the time-to-market advantage that WiMAX once claimed over LTE is becoming less obvious.

• The Register has a really interesting take on which wireless technologies won't make it through the current economic crunch.

A new article this morning in wireless online publication Unstrung interviews Nortel's Richard Lowe on Nortel's continuing wireless and LTE ambitions:

"Our wireless asset remains a key part of our carrier customer base. We have a good position in CDMA; we're continuing to do business in GSM and UMTS core. But both businesses are relatively flat. Our intent is to continue to leverage our wireless installed bases and invest in LTE."

Lowe is of course the president of Nortel's carrier networks business, which includes our wireless/4g portfolio.

In the interview, Lowe talks about his ongoing efforts to find partnering opportunities in the LTE space to re-risk the overall investment:

Just a few hours ago Nortel issued this press release announcing that it is discontinuing its mobile WiMAX business. As part of this move, Nortel is ending its joint agreement with WiMAX vendor Alvarion that was originally announced last June.

Alvarion also issued a press release on the news, which you can see here.

Nortel's agreement with Alvarion allowed for the resale of Alvarion access products by Nortel, as well as Nortel's contribution of resources and funding to accelerate Alvarion's base station development.

AT&T calls LTE hands down the next generation of wireless technology, and expects their LTE deployment to be complete by 2011. That's just one snippet from the two-day conference LTE: Towards Mobile Broadband in Dallas that attracted several hundred decision makers, network architects, engineers, and planners that attended the event.

Hosted by ATIS and 3GPP, the conference focused on the migration path for mobile long term evolution (LTE), what it means for the industry and how LTE will affect operators, vendors and manufacturers in the Americas.

Nortel was well represented at the event with three session speakers, as well as having interviews with a variety of trade pubs at the show. This includes Dr. Vish Nandlall, Nortel's Carrier CTO, who presented to a packed room on whether LTE 'does what it says on the box.'

Rich Tehrani of TMCnet is on the short list of trade media we keep in the loop on all things enterprise. He often talks to Joel Hackney and other Nortel enterprise spokespeople on the state of our enterprise business.

Rich recently expressed interest in getting an update on the carrier side of our business, so our PR team set up Rich to talk to Richard Lowe, Nortel's president of the Carrier business. Rich and Richard cover a broad spectrum of topics related to Nortel's carrier business, and you can see that interview here on TMCnet.com.

The tough economy doesn't seem to be hampering Verizon's appetite to deploy cutting edge technology, as their CTO says they plan to deploy both LTE and 100gig by this time next year.

Verizon executive VP and chief technology officer Dick Lynch surprised many in the industry earlier this week with public statements that up Verizon's time frame for a live LTE deployment by about a year compared to previous expectations.

Lynch said that Verizon Wireless, the soon to be largest wireless operator in the U.S., "expects that LTE will actually be in service somewhere here in the U.S. probably this time next year," according to this PC World article. PCW also notes that this is a more aggressive LTE timetable than most expected, which has been pegged for initial deployments in 2010 and wide rollouts starting in 2011.

Nortel is bringing in customers from around the world for its annual Advanced Technology Summit (ATS), a month-long event that allows Nortel customers to see demonstrations of technologies and solutions from across Nortel's product lines.

This week, Nortel joins other vendors in the industry for two carrier / service provider focused events -- WiMAX World in Chicago and the Broadband World Forum (BBWF) in Brussels.