As the annual CTIA shindig approaches at the end of this month, Telephony is getting ready…so should you.

To help you get prepared, our wireless editor Kevin Fitchard took a peak-ahead at planned CTIA keynote addresses at the show to try to divine what’s like to be in the air.

Says Kevin: “Long-term evolution (LTE) and Mobile WiMAX will be big themes at this year's show -- finally a new G to hype! -- and opening day promises dueling keynotes on both. Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam likely will extol the virtues of LTE, while Sprint's new head man Dan Hesse will do the same for WiMAX.”

WiMAX vendors are already prepping their wares ahead of the show. Meanwhile, for a show finale, CTIA is trotting out the CEOs of the four largest wireless infrastructure vendors in the world: Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia Siemens and Nortel—all LTE backers. The moderator? Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam, a recent LTE convert.

What else can we expect? Many variations on these industry themes:

• The latest news from the FCC 700 Mhz auction as well as a reality-check on exactly what the winners have gotten themselves into
• Open networks and open applications, with discussions led on the incumbent carrier side by Verizon, which is announcing its open network specifications this week, and on the upstart side by mobile Web players like Google and Yahoo
• All-you-can-eat plans: have wireless carriers competing themselves into a corner or found a way to significantly increase ARPU?
• The economy -- if it hasn’t melted-down completely by then. How will a looming recession affect mobile usage, which clearly isn’t discretionary but isn’t necessarily life-line either
• Off-stage discussion of the future of the financially-troubled Sprint, with T-Mobile as the newest suitor to emerge
• IPhone, iPhone, iPhone. Just like a year ago, it will be hard to avoid discussion of Apple’s iconic phone. The newest topic: the impact of the new iPhone SDK. Look for Google and Android to hold great sway at the show as well.

What are you expecting -- or hoping -- to hear at CTIA? Let us know what’s on your mind leading up to the show.

E-mail me at rkarpinski@telephonyonline.com.