This morning Ralph de la Vega discussed the state of AT&T’s Mobility and Consumer Markets business at the UBS 37th Annual Global Media and Communications Conference in New York City. The conference featured senior executives from more than 100 leading media and telecommunications companies from around the globe.

A replay of de la Vega’s remarks can be found here (select Windows Media Player), and look for a brief video interview with him to be posted on Insider Thursday afternoon. Here’s a brief recap of his presentation:

Our leadership position in wireless
Aggressive focus on network investments and improvements
Best technology path forward
Our emerging devices leadership
Strong U-verse TV growth
The power of One AT&T
What sets AT&T apart
AT&T’s leadership position in wireless, especially wireless data

Our wireless growth is impressive. Over the past year, in a weak economy, we led the U.S. wireless market in net adds and increased our subscriber base by more than 6 million customers. Compared to our major U.S. competitors last quarter, we were:

#1 in gross subscriber additions
#1 in total net adds
#1 in postpaid net adds
#1 in smartphones
#1 in total wireless revenue growth
#1 in total churn
#1 in postpaid ARPU (average revenue per user/month)
and in postpaid ARPU growth
What’s driving these results? Excellent nationwide coverage. A strong network handling unprecedented data traffic. Great marketing. A terrific device line-up. And our smart technology decision a few years ago to go with GSM, the global network standard. And most importantly, our strategy to put wireless data services — and advanced wireless data devices — at the center of our customer experience. As a result, twice as many smartphone customers have chosen AT&T than any of our competitors.

Our focus on network investment and improvements

To deliver on the great potential of mobile data, we have an aggressive network investment program to further enhance our wireless network and customers are benefiting. There’s always more to be done, but we have a high sense of urgency and are on the right track.

When you look at drive-test results by an independent third party:

On a national basis, our 3G data throughput speeds are faster than the competition.
Based on independent drive-test data, the difference between AT&T and the industry leader on a national level on dropped call percentages is less than 2/10ths of a percentage point…which translates to a difference of less than two calls out of 1,000.
Root Wireless, a new, independent network performance monitoring company not affiliated with AT&T, just released data comparing wireless carriers in several markets including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. The data showed our 3G network outpaced Verizon’s, producing far fewer peaks and valleys in network capacity and much greater data speeds.
Our own internal metrics tell the same story. Over the past year, our internal network performance measurements indicate overall quality is up more than 25 percent.

These improvements reflect a number of initiatives, including near-completion of our 850 MHz spectrum to 3G — that delivers strong in-building coverage. We are adding some 2,000 new cell sites this year, adding 100,000 new circuits to strengthen backhaul, doubling our number of fiber-served cell sites this year. And there’s much more to come. We will continue to be aggressive in investing to strengthen network performance.

Best technology path to capture data growth

The mobile data revolution is still in its infancy…there’s huge opportunity ahead of us…and the great news from our perspective is that our technology path puts us in the best position to capture that growth going forward.

When you compare our path forward with that of our CDMA peers, there’s a major difference that involves technology and timing. It comes from HSPA 7.2, which is largely a software enhancement for GSM-based networks. HSPA 7.2 speeds are a major step up — they double theoretical peak speeds. We already have the fastest 3G network in the U.S., based on independent tests. With 7.2, the nation’s fastest network is getting even faster.

Most important? HSPA 7.2 is ready now — and we are deploying it now. We will have this technology up and running in six markets by the end of the month…and we plan to be launched in 25 of our top 30 markets by the end of second quarter next year.

Customers will see the difference and experience the benefits of 7.2 very soon. We already have more than a dozen HSPA 7.2 compatible devices, including iPhone 3GS, feature phones, smartphones, laptop devices, with more to come.

It’s easy to talk about LTE, but it will be some time before we see a rich set of devices to run on that technology. Meanwhile, HSPA 7.2 is being adopted and deployed around the world…devices are coming on board quickly…and we believe customers will be thrilled with the speeds. It’s an important competitive advantage for us over the next few years.

When you put it all together, HSPA 7.2 already has a rich set of devices and provides a customer-friendly transition path to LTE…combined with our industry-leading Wi-Fi coverage, we are putting in place the industry’s most powerful set of network capabilities for mobile data connectivity. That’s exciting for us…for customers…and a major opportunity.

U-verse TV growth

Lots of good news about U-verse this year. We surpassed the 2 million customer mark today.

Our deployment is on track: We now pass more than 20 million living units, and are on track with our plan to pass 30 million by the end of 2011.

Our operational metrics continue to improve… install times and intervals continue to move in the right direction — and we surpassed the 2 million customer mark today.

And most importantly, U-verse is delivering in a big way for customers.

We ranked highest in the JD Power survey for residential TV customer satisfaction in the West and South regions, which align with our wireless Southeast, Southwest and West regions. This was the second consecutive year.
We continue to add new features and HD channels — and the technology has proven itself.
Across all eligible living units our U-verse TV penetration is now above 12 percent. In areas we’ve been marketing to for 24 months of longer, overall penetration rates are now more than 20 percent. And looking at homes marketed to, in green areas where we compete head to head with cable, our research tells us U-verse is taking roughly 60 percent of the TV flow share

Our emerging devices leadership

Our network today handles two times as many smartphones as any of our competitors. And our postpaid integrated device penetration is still in the low 40-percent range. So there’s still huge upside potential in integrated devices. Beyond that, emerging devices represent the next wave of wireless growth, and our network provides the connectivity.

Some time ago, we set up an organization devoted specifically to developing new products and new ideas in the emerging devices space…and that work has paid off.

Today we are the clear leader in emerging devices connectivity: like e-Readers and personal navigation devices. Plus we offer a host of net books. And in the area of machine-to-machine connectivity, wireless services is just getting started. Everything from medical monitoring to metering and industrial applications.

The power of One AT&T

One AT&T is a powerful advantage for us — to be able to offer wireless, broadband and TV solutions in a seamless, single and unmatched approach.

We can create integrated and converged services that combine wireless and wireline. We can take content and applications — many of them exclusive to AT&T — and make them portable across the TV, PC and wireless screens. We can combine customer care platforms, billing and support systems. That’s a powerful advantage for us, and it further sets us apart from the competition.

What sets AT&T apart?

Despite economic pressures, we have a strong growth record in key areas that will define the future: wireless, U-verse and IP-based services. We have a proven record of disciplined execution on the cost side of our business. We are strong financially.

AT&T has significant areas of opportunity ahead:

Best technology path to capture wireless data growth
Leadership in integrated and emerging devices
Upside potential in wireless margins
Solid momentum with U-verse growth
One AT&T