The message from the big carriers at this year's CTIA Wireless conference was crystal clear: We're opening up as fast as we can, just don't push us.

From keynote speeches to demonstrations to press luncheons, executives from major wireless carriers touted the openness of their networks. Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam spoke about Verizon's Open Development Initiative, which the company launched to entice more device manufacturers and mobile application developers to create products to connect to Verizon's open-access network. AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega, meanwhile, said that his company had become much more willing in recent months to embrace Google's Android platform for its mobile devices. And Sprint CEO Dan Hesse extolled his company's charter membership in the Android-promoting Open Handset Alliance and said that Sprint's goal was "to be the easiest to work with for content developers and applications developers."

But while carriers were eager to show their newfound appreciation for open networks, they also made a point of saying that they would open up at their own pace. During his opening keynote address, for instance, McAdam railed against the "clear and present danger" that government regulations could pose for the wireless industry. In particular McAdam said that the recent moves toward openness were proof that wireless markets should be left to function on their own, and that the wireless industry was evolving far too quickly for the government to regulate it.

"To regulate this business is like taking a Polaroid snapshot of an industry moving at full-motion video speeds," he said. "By the time that film develops, it's no longer relevant to the environment that we're in."

Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin followed McAdam's address by announcing that he would urge his fellow commissioners to dismiss a petition filed by Skype last year that asked the commission to force carriers to completely open up their networks. Martin said it would be "premature" to force government action against the carriers in light of their recent support for more open networks, and that he didn't believe in slapping industrywide open-network requirements on every carrier.

The carriers' recent open-access concessions have come from a mix of public pressure and market incentives to allow third-party devices and applications onto their network. Some have speculated that the carriers have been opening up their networks on their terms as a way to preempt government action and accrue political capital for the much bigger fight over network neutrality. The carriers, of course, insist that opening their networks was purely a market-driven decision based on customer demand for innovative new applications and devices, as well as infrastructure investments that have given them the ability to support more third-party features. No matter what their motivations, though, carriers have clearly made an effort to incorporate openness into their brand image. But how much -- and how quickly -- carriers decide to open up is unclear.

Open networks weren't the only hot topic at this year's CTIA Wireless, which drew 40,000 attendees and 1,090 exhibitors. Other popular themes were included as well. 

3G and 4G mobile broadband technologies were discussed constantly, with standards WiMAX and LTE drawing a majority of the attention. Japanese carrier DoCoMo, for example, demonstrated an LTE system that has achieved a download speed of up to 250Mbps, more than 30 times the download speeds currently available on the carrier's network in Japan. Motorola, meanwhile, dipped its toes into both high-speed mobile standards by introducing WiMAX customer premises equipment and demonstrating a handoff between 3G and LTE. Nokia, on the other hand, showed off a WiMAX version of its N810 tablet that will become available in conjunction with Sprint's official launch of Xohm later this year.