NEW ORLEANS--The froth atop the sea of technology acronyms swirling around the CTIA show this week (HSDPA, VoIP, IMS, Wi-Fi, EV-DO, UMTS, WiMAX, UMA, OFDM, 3GPP and on and on) is MVNO. The mobile virtual network operator model--which essentially involves wireless network operators providing managed mobile services to consumer brands so they can resell them to their target niches--is the hands-down winner of the prize for generating the most buzz and providing the perfect platform to link the content community to the wireless network technology sector. (When P. Diddy not only declares himself, in theory, an MVNO on stage at a wireless show but also makes tech-head wireless execs part of his posse, you know the wireless industry will never be the same.)

Largely missing from all this is much indication from the cable operators as to what their approach to wireless ultimately might be. My own theory, since the cable guys are giving us so little practical fact on which to base assumptions, is that the MVNO model is not the ideal vehicle for cable's mobile foray.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe the cable providers (as operators of networks) will be willing to relinquish control over any portion of their networks, even a part they never owned in the first place. To basically outsource the mobile part of an operation to a Sprint or Cingular, letting those outfits have tentacles into their customer bases and helping to line their pockets in return, seems against cable's nature. Cable guys, like all service providers, favor more customer control than that.

It will be interesting to see how--and if--cable enters wireless. I think they will go in through the broadband (cable modem) route, which already can be wirelessly extended at the customer premises via wireless LAN. If integrated Wi-Fi/cellular handsets become a reality, they would be that much closer to mobility, save the cellular airtime.

Who knows? By that point, maybe they'll be buying mobile minutes from P. Diddy.

E-mail me at jmeyers@primediabusiness.com.