In less than a week, the great and good from the wireless industry will descend on the CTIA annual conference in Las Vegas. Expect tens of thousands to attend in a climate of excitement and hope.

More than 1,200 exhibitors have taken booths at the CTIA show in the Las Vegas Convention Center. All will vie for the attention of the 55,000 to 60,000 mobile industry executives expected to sit through dozens of sessions and meetings, walk the halls and dine with clients and prospects. Expect a heavy presence at shows and poker tables, too.

But it's time the wireless industry in the United States rolled the dice in another area: upgrading its infrastructure and establishing standards for mobile marketing.

It's understandable that the $500 billion wireless industry has different tugs and pulls and unique technology challenges. Platforms differ and so do agendas.

That said, wireless companies should take a look at today's consumer landscape in the U.S.

Penetration of the mobile phone is at nearly 260 million out of a population of 300 million. Many consumers have given up their landlines. And some surveys suggest that consumers would rather leave home without the wallet than the mobile phone. An exaggeration, perhaps, but it is an indication of the device's importance to the new way of life.

Consumers expect their phones to function as more than just an instrument to make and receive calls and text messages.

The mobile phone is the new key: you never leave home without it.

Place your bets
It is in this environment that CTIA attendees must discuss strategies and tactics. It's not about the technology; it's about the consumer.

Marketing naturally has to follow where the consumer is. And the consumer today is online, watching television and on the mobile phone -- those are the three channels getting the most attention.

Europe and Asia-Pacific already have a jump on the U.S. in the marketing, media and commerce applications of the mobile channel. Smaller markets, nimbler carriers and service providers, superior mobile devices and receptive audiences help.

But the U.S. is where the major opportunity lies.

As is proven online, the consumer is willing to view ads in exchange for free content. That model slowly but surely will migrate to mobile.

It helps that the major U.S. carriers have already introduced all-you-can-eat voice plans and Sprint has even extended the flat-rate to a voice-and-data combo package.

So once the pricing pressure is off, consumers will be more receptive to commercials on programs adapted for mobile TV. They will be more open to buying products if retailers simplify sites to make mobile purchases easier.

Also, consumers will be open to banking on mobile if security concerns are allayed. They will be more willing to read articles on their phones if their trusted media brands produce a user-friendly layout.

What these initiatives require is sane heads to sit together and establish standards and rules of mobile etiquette. Start with the chief executives of the six leading wireless carriers and then go down from there to the technology providers and then the advertising agencies and the publishers.

What this industry needs are common standards for mobile email, text messaging, content, opt-in, commerce, banking, consumer privacy, publishing, reporting and measurement and, most important, mobile advertising.

No doubt some of this will be discussed next week. The stakes now are higher than in years past. No more talk of mobile advertising and marketing being a year away.

Delegates should come away from this CTIA show feeling they were participants in a historical conclave and not a boozy jamboree. Action must swiftly follow words. This time, what happens in Vegas should not stay in Vegas.