As the 2009 VON Conference & Expo wound down, it was clear that the telecommunication industry has entered a new era in which traditional business models, and traditional approaches to product and technology development, no longer apply.

So what was the biggest thing people wanted to talk about at VON? Hold on to your hats: The iPhone has shown us that wireless data could clog networks.

There are only a handful of nationwide wireless carriers. Here’s why the elimination of spectrum auctions could make it all better.

VON Editor-in-Chief Richard Martin was never a Miami Vice fan in its TV-series days. That makes it all the more surprising that he was induced to don a Sonny Crockett outfit and appear on stage for the opening of the VON Conference & Expo on Sept. 22.

4G and HSPA-based 3G, helped along by the federal stimulus program, are the perfect delivery vehicles for a new era of government applications.

Market trends toward mobility, unified communications, fixed mobile convergence and cloud computing stand to change Skype’s value proposition and reputation in the telecom marketplace, said the peer-to-peer VoIP provider’s chief strategy officer, Christopher Dean, in his joint keynote address on service provider transformation Wednesday at VON and Channel Partners.

Next week, the feds will announce the first round of broadband stimulus grant winners. But don’t forget – the stimulus initiative isn’t just about building the networks to bring broadband to unserved and underserved areas.