WISPAmerica 2019 Show Daily Day 2

STOP BY AND SEE WHY MORE WISPs TRUST POWERCODE BOOTH 413 Header... www. WISPA .org WISPA merica 2019 I MARCH 19 - 21, 2019 A rguably WISPs’ greatest challenge in terms of growth, along with access to capital, is access to spectrum. Indeed, unlicensed spectrum is becoming increasingly crowded, while at the same time, residential and business customers demand increasing amounts of bandwidth, whether it be for large, high-definition video or to connect lots of small IoT devices. And whereas the major mobile providers each own anywhere from 100 to 200 Mhz of sub-6Ghz spectrum alone, the average WISP owns somewhere around 0 Mhz of licensed spectrum, said Claude Aiken, President and CEO of WISPA, speaking at yesterday’s “State of WISPA” presentation. This certainly puts the WISP industry at a distinct disadvantage, but as Aiken points out, the U.S. government still holds up to 85 percent of total spectrum. In other words, “Washington D.C. is the key to our growth,” said Aiken. Of course, fighting for that spectrum is never easy. Rural WISPs are regularly praised by policymakers for the key role they play in bridging the digital divide. “But that brings up a legitimate question,” said Aiken. “Policymakers say they want more of us. How come we don’t win as often, at least, as we think we should?” Much of the answer to that question comes down to dollars. “When it comes to spectrum, we are up against some of the biggest, most (See Voices story, page 4) Aiken Makes Call for WISPs’ Voices WISPA President and CEO Claude Aiken DAY 2