WISPAMERICA_2021_Daily_2

6 WISPAMERICA 2021 I APRIL 26 - 29, 2021 www.bekabusinessmedia.com DAY 2 Martin Vilaboy Editor-in-Chief martin@bekabusinessmedia.com Gerald Baldino Senior Editor gerald@bekabusinessmedia.com Bruce Christian Senior Editor bruce@bekabusinessmedia.com Percy Zamora Art Director percy@bekabusinessmedia.com Rob Schubel Digital Manager marketing@bekabusinessmedia.com Jen Vilaboy Ad Production Director jen@bekabusinessmedia.com Berge Kaprelian Group Publisher berge@bekabusinessmedia.com (480) 503-0770 Anthony Graffeo Publisher anthony@bekabusinessmedia.com (203) 304-8547 Nazal Parvin Associate Publisher nazal@bekabusinessmedia.com (415) 516-7053 an estimated 5.9 million in 2019, and 4 million in 2016, when Carmel Group last reported on the industry. In other words, WISPs added 1 million subscribers in 2020 following four years of averaging about 600,000 additions per year. And the Carmel Group does not expect this growth to slow down. It estimates that U.S. WISP subscriber numbers will nearly double to 12.7 million by 2025. In terms of revenue, the Carmel Group also predicted that fixed wireless providers generated roughly $4.4 billion in core revenues from customers in 2020, with that figure projected to grow to $10.9 billion by the end of 2025. It should be noted that the Carmel Group did not factor mobile network operators into its findings, even despite that fact that mobile-centric service providers such as T-Mobile and Verizon are moving rather swiftly into fixed wireless opportunities in geographic locations where their networks have excess capacity. T-Mobile alone said it expects to add between 7 million and 8 million fixed wireless internet customers within the next five years across both rural and urban locations. Instead, the findings represented activity from the 2,800 or so fixed-wireless-centric providers in the U.S. that operate fixed wireless technologies exclusively or a mix of fiber and fixed wireless. “The positive trajectory of subscribers and reve- nues in the U.S. fixed-wireless broadband industry is real cause for objective optimism,” said Carmel Group researchers. Not that WISPs can rest on their laurels. As Aiken noted during the opening sessions on Monday, “infrastructure” plans coming out of Washington D.C. are asking for public investments between $65 billion and $100 billion for broadband infrastructure, and proponents of fiber technologies surely will be making the case that large chunks of that money should go to “future-proof” fiber-based networks. Aiken and Larsen asked the WISP community to help counter still-prevailing preconceptions that fixed wireless networks are just an “alternative” to fixed networks or simply a solution “of last resort.” “Fixed wireless networks are future-proof,” said Aiken. Indeed, fixed wireless services, said Larsen, already have exceeded DSL and cable service in some areas and are approaching the capabilities of fiber in the last mile. Then, of course, there is the cost and ROI on taxpayer dollars. In its calculations regarding the construction of fixed wireless networks in comparison to other networking technologies, the Carmel Group found that it generally costs less than $500 in network capital outlay for a WISP to connect a fixed-wireless customer. That’s far less than the roughly $4,500 it costs a fiber provider to connect a subscriber, or the $2,200 for a cable operator. “Finally, and perhaps of greatest importance to investors, the ROI timeframe for fixed wireless is under one year,” said Carmel Group researchers. “This compares to a minimum of almost two years to as much as six years for the other technologies.” m W ISPAMERICA attendees can stop by the WAV & Last Mile Gear booth #612 to pick up a Show Passport, get it stamped at participating manufac- turers’ booths, and return to the WAV & Last Mile Gear booth for a chance to win prizes. A 4K Drone prize is provided by via Photon and WAV, while a Sony headphones prize is provided by Last Mile Gear. Claude Aiken President & CEO caiken@wispa.org Christina Mason Vice President of Government Affairs cmason@wispa.org Louis Peraertz Vice President of Policy lperaertz@wispa.org Eric Slee Director of Government Affairs eslee@wispa.org Mike Wendy Director of Communications mwendy@wispa.org Arielle Coffey Events Coordinator arielle@wispa.org Gary Helmers Sales Manager ghelmers@wispa.org Alysha Zang Digital Marketing Associate azang@wispa.org Denise Kovacs Office Administrator dkovacs@wispa.org Jennifer Lisaius Member Relations Specialist jlisaius@wispa.org Richard Bernhardt National Spectrum Adviser rbernhardt@wispa.org (Continued from page 1) A Passport to Prizes