Wireless Carriers Push 'Smart' Strategy For Growth

With an eye toward future growth, wireless-phone companies plan to encourage all of their customers to get "smart." In other words, they want customers to buy or upgrade to devices like an Apple iPhone, Palm Pre or the latest Motorola handsets such as the fast-selling Droid. Each of these mobile phones also includes powerful computer-like functions that make them "smarter" than traditional wireless handsets. Since these smart phones include all the latest features, such as Internet access and related software applications, subscribers usually upgrade to more expensive data plans. The result: substantially more revenue for US wireless operators. "The entire wireless industry stands to benefit from growth in data," Verizon Chief Financial Officer John Killian said Tuesday at an investors conference in New York. "We are at the beginning of an explosion in data."