The Supercomm show is always a chance to gauge the mood of the telecom industry, and this year's event was no exception. Official attendance figures won't be available for a few weeks, while the auditors do their thing, but the Telecommunications Industry Association--the show's co-owner and operator--reports there was a "measurable" increase in attendance this year. A significant portion of that came from Illinois, as local attendance rose 46% from the 4173 residents that attended in 2004. International attendance was also up, by 20%.

The 2005 edition of the show is likely to be remembered as the trade show where convergence finally moved beyond buzzword status. Voice-over-IP technology was everywhere, but it wasn't the big news, except in service provider announcements. IP video was also sprinkled throughout the exhibit hall, but the buzz was really about business services, as storage, security, Ethernet and business-class VoIP were the bottom-line issues of the week.

Other highlights:

• The Michigan Avenue shops were featuring summer clothes on clearance--just in time for Supercomm attendees who didn't realize June in Chicago could be hot and muggy.
• Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin spoke only a few hours after Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg, but seemed to agree with Seidenberg that requiring telephone companies to meet strict local cable franchise rules for their video services doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
• BellSouth Chairman and CEO Duane Ackerman admitted his company faces a challenge when it comes to wireline/wireless integration because it doesn't own all of Cingular--but then he was quick to point out that Verizon doesn't own all of Verizon Wireless. There will be some late-night lawyering before the major telecom players get around such hurdles.
• Ethernet services are definitely moving into the dominant position, and one international carrier that is going all-Ethernet had an interesting perspective on why: Luis Fernandez Vega, manager of technology planning and transmission for Telefonica, which is using Ethernet for residential triple play and for business VPNs, pointed out that service providers are following their customers in the move. "For us, Ethernet is new, but for them it's legacy," he said.
• Reform is on the minds and lips of not only incumbent service providers but also regulators. FCC Commissioners Kathleen Abernathy and Jonathan Edelstein joined California Public Utilities Commissioner Susan Kennedy in bemoaning the problems of following outdated legal code in regulating new services. Particularly tough is the ongoing distinction between local and long-distance service--a uniquely American idea whose time has gone.

E-mail me at CWilson3@primediabusiness.com.