If you’re reading this from somewhere other than Barcelona, there are only three possible explanations. (1) You’re not in the wireless industry; good for you. (2) You are in wireless, but following the show from afar; good for you. (3) You missed the memo about 3GSM changing its name to Mobile World Congress (MWC); you might want to start looking for a new job.

In any case, I’m at MWC this week. While I don’t want to bore you with the standard “trends I expect to see showcased at the latest trade show” column, there are some things I hope to see. Yep, just like everyone else, I have my own hopes for wireless in 2008…trends, announcements, products or partnerships I think are important for moving the industry forward. They might not all make it into vendor booths, messaging and presentations, but as I wander around the show waiting for Tapas-hour to begin, here’s what I’ll be looking for -- let’s call it my own personal Scavenger Hunt.

Femto integration: Femtocells were big news at 3GSM last year. With operators poised to start launching femtocell trials, they’ll be big news at MWC this year. Unfortunately, the last 12 months have done little to narrow down the options operators face when figuring out how to integrate femtocells into the mobile core. The Femto Forum is hard at work narrowing down these options…but I’ll be looking for any sign that the market is working this out on its own.

LTE solutions: We’re all agreed that LTE won’t be a commercial reality for a couple years. Regardless, at some point, it’s no longer enough for vendors to simply put their initial LTE prototypes on display; they eventually need to explain how LTE will be implemented within their product lines. I’d like to think that time has come.

LTE devices and silicon: In 2005, the last year 3GSM was held in Cannes, I sat in a vendor’s off-site demo room where HSDPA services were being delivered to a big-honking (that’s a technical term) test device. Compelling, it was not. Where device availability is a gating factor on the uptake of any new wireless technology, vendors will want to ensure that LTE device availability doesn’t trail infrastructure availability by too large of a margin. To convince operators they should plan for LTE in the medium-term, they’ll need to have devices (not just the big-honking type) on display in the near-term.

LTE core: So, you’ve got your LTE base stations and LTE devices. To complete your offer, you need an LTE core. Call it SAE. Call it the Enhanced Packet Core. Call it whatever you like. In the same way vendors will want to move beyond rudimentary LTE prototype demos, they’ll want to put their core assets and roadmaps on display. If not, it’s going to be hard for operators to believe that LTE truly is on the horizon.

2G investments: I still know a lot of people who have yet to own a 3G phone or use 3G services -- and, the last time I checked, the U.S. was still a prosperous country. For all the fuss over 4G, 2G lives on and will continue living for years to come. Maybe it’s just because I like underdogs (go Ron Paul!) and things that have unjustly fallen out of fashion (go paisley!), but it would be nice to see an outward acknowledgement of 2G’s value with new R&D and solutions launches.

Green, green, green: Back when he was on the charts, Huey Lewis told us it was, “Hip To Be Square.” Today, it’s hip to be green. With a focus on base station energy efficiency, vendors have been busy selling their wireless solutions as environmentally friendly and socially conscious. Ericsson took this one step further with its Tower Tube, promising an energy-efficient siting offer. The “my base station runs cooler than yours” claims will soon get old. Before then, vendors need to begin to follow Ericsson’s lead and think beyond their products.

Cobi: Do you remember Cobi, the Catalan Sheepdog mascot of the 1992 Summer Olympics? I figure he’s got to be around Barcelona somewhere. More importantly, my own sheepdogs (Icelandic, not Catalan) have been bugging me for his autograph -- they’re both big fans.

OK, this last point was in jest; I fully expect that Cobi is spending his golden years on a small Caribbean island bought with his endorsement earnings. In all seriousness, however, this does point to something else I’d like to see in Barcelona: excitement and/or fun. I’m too young to be jaded. Yet, going into the year’s first trade show, so many discussions are focused on the negative. Consolidation. Flat Markets. Standards Battles. Maybe I just miss the convoluted IMS demos of years gone by. But, when an industry begins to lose its “joy,” it becomes increasingly difficult to sell the value proposition of all those demos and new technologies to the end-user...and, without them we’ll just be telling the same stories next year.

Peter Jarich is a wireless analyst for Current Analysis.