2 WISPAPALOOZA SHOW I OCTOBER 13 – 16, 2025 Welcome to WISPAPALOOZA 2025! ISPs, and certainly WISPs, have been working hard to deploy broadband to the unserved for many years. As full connectivity finally comes within reach, how will WISPA’s members maintain and extend their competitive edge? Through “over-the-top” services? Better workflows? Improved metrics? Public/private partnerships? Upgraded equipment or an expanded portfolio of technologies? Mergers and acquisitions? All the above? These questions, among others, underlie our “Learn. Build. Compete.” theme for WISPAPALOOZA 2025. Heartfelt thanks to our sponsors and exhibitors whose commitment and support make WISPAPALOOZA possible and ensure that our industry continues to grow, thrive and innovate. Their products and services represent the cutting edge of connectivity, and we are grateful for their partnership in our shared mission of closing the digital divide. And a big round of thanks to the thousands of attendees joining us here in Las Vegas for the premier gathering of hometown ISPs, industry leaders, innovators and partners, who have come together under one roof to celebrate the community that makes broadband possible, share strategies for success, and explore the technologies that will shape our industry’s future. Whether looking for strategies to navigate regulatory changes or the latest technologies shaping the future of connectivity, you’re in the right place. WISPAPALOOZA 2025 will deliver insights, networking and handson exposure to the ideas and tools that help you thrive. Dynamic industries, by definition, are characterized by big opportunities, existential challenges and pivotal moments. Ours is no exception. On June 6, following three years of sustained advocacy by WISPA and our members, NTIA announced a BEAD program course correction that realigned the program to the technology-neutral bipartisan intent of Congress. That’s a huge win for our industry because it reshapes the federal narrative about what constitutes broadband service to include every tool in the toolbox. It helps protect your networks from the threat of taxpayer-funded overbuilding by competitors and creates more opportunities for hometown ISPs—the community-based providers closest to unserved and underserved Americans—to participate in BEAD more fully. NTIA listened and we are working to build on this momentum, but at the same time many states have been slow to pivot, and WISPA will continue to affirm the critical role hometown ISPs play in delivering broadband to every corner of the nation. We invite your participation in our State Coordinator committees as they are crucial to our success. NTIA Deputy Administrator Adam Cassady will deliver our keynote, “BEAD, Spectrum & The Future of Broadband,” offering a timely perspective on federal priorities. On the spectrum front, the recent Congressional budget reconciliation process reauthorized the FCC’s spectrum auction authority but also raised questions about what and when to auction, including bands now in use by our members. WISPA remains actively involved in protecting the CBRS and 6 GHz bands. These spectrum resources have been transformative for our members and the communities we serve. They represent affordable, scalable and innovative pathways to expand broadband without boundaries. We must continue to advocate vigorously against efforts to auction off these valuable bands to interests that would lock out the very providers who have proven their effectiveness in deploying them. WISPA is collaborating with several other associations, and we have strong support in the Congress made possible in part by the access afforded by WISPA-PAC, our bipartisan Connected PAC. The stakes could not be higher—and your voice is essential in keeping this spectrum open, shared and available for innovation. We invite your participation in WISPA-PAC as it is crucial to our ability to be in the right room, at the right time, to defend our industry’s interests. David M. Zumwalt WISPA President & CEO
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