pretty sure cell carriers had licenses and protected areas ; unlicensed wisps do not
----- Original Message ----- From: Mathew Howard To: af Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2018 11:53 AM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Cellular One approach to WISP It definitely wouldn't be an easy thing to put together, and there would be a lot of details that would have to be worked out. The only way I can really see it working, would be if it was basically a franchise system... local guy pays whatever franchise fees, and in exchange gets to use the brand and gets a protected area (only protected from other franchisees, obviously...), it would probably make sense to also take on the role of a distributor, to some extent, and probably also provide some level of customer support. It could work, but I'm guessing getting a lot of existing WISPs to sign up for something like that isn't going to be easy. The WISPs that already have an established brand with a good local reputation aren't going to be crazy about the idea of dumping all that and starting over with a new brand, and the ones that don't... you aren't going to want involved (unless they're brand new startups, but that's a whole different thing). On Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 9:52 AM, Lewis Bergman <[email protected]> wrote: I am might be wrong, but I don't see many of those working out. Who fronts the money for the drop in the bucket national ad campaign? National brand awareness doesn't just happen. Same for buying equipment. Who runs the warehouse, do you pay upfront for the equipment? How long do you have to wait for your delivery since it adds a step? I doubt the distributors will give you a big price break if you expect them to drop ship a 10000 unit order to 125 different places. How do you deal with someone that is hurting your brand? I guess I just don't see that the advantages outweigh the huge PITA but I hope it works for you guys. I guess I saw the difficulties in trying to make a similar deal with only 4 companies. It took almost a year. It would have a natural extension into IX and peering I guess. On Wed, Jan 31, 2018, 3:17 AM Gino A. Villarini <[email protected]> wrote: Some of the Benefits: National Brand Awareness – huge plus when your brand is know and recognized as option #3 nationally Standardized Operations – getting a bunch of WISP together and standardizing on the best operations procedures could be daunting but the benefits overshadow the initial work Buying/Negotiating power – buying 100 radios vs 10000 could be a great negotiating point, also when negotiating tower leases, fiber, ip transit etc.. Political / Lobbying – being represented by ONE entity that is backed by hundred of thousands of subs will provide leverage when lobbying at FCC and other political maters. Ht wisp operator could be seen as one of the big boys in the table vs scattered small mom and pop shops… Better prospect for exit/acquisition – Investors will take notice and as a conglomerate, there are better financial outlook in a exit strategy. From: Af <[email protected]> on behalf of Travis Johnson <[email protected]> Reply-To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 11:19 PM To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Cellular One approach to WISP And honestly, what benefits are you hoping to gain?? A single name? Better pricing on equipment? I'm not sure I understand what the ultimate goal would be, and if it would be worth the cost to "consolidate" hundreds or thousands of small companies. Things are different now than they were in the early cell days... or the early cable days (as Rise/JAB is discovering). It seems like KeyOn was trying to do something similar to this, even going public, before dying a slow and miserable death. Travis On 1/30/2018 8:04 PM, Jason McKemie wrote: I like the concept, it's going to be like herding cats though... On Tuesday, January 30, 2018, Brian Webster <[email protected]> wrote: In this discussion should we have it, a history of the first cellular networks their evolution and when the industry started to explode would need to be laid out. Starting from the early 80’s on up through. This is important because as Gino has suggested, the WISP industry is following a very similar path and has always suffered from brand/product image, recognition and understanding. Cellular phones back then suffered the same problem. The word cellular was understood as a biology term by most. The term “Car Phones” was better understood and only those who had a lot of money had those and it was a party line system with no privacy. People had them out of extreme necessity only. The concept of anyone other than the phone company being able to deliver a phone service would not have ever seemed possible to a consumer. At that time the breakup of Ma Bell was just happening. A person could easily start a cellular network, no spectrum auctions back then. Just apply to the FCC and pay the license fees. Of an interesting side note, I had the opportunity to be working on a consulting project for AT&T in Portland Oregon years ago, we had to review leases, zoning approvals and other documents to determine if sites could be expanded and what work was required for same. Sometimes leases mentioned specific frequencies and antennas etc. so they might have to be renegotiated or modified to add data and new frequencies and antennas. In this process I had my hands on Craig McCaw’s first 4 cell tower leases on his first built cellular system. It was very cool to be holding that piece of history, his personal signature and all. Such an innovator that hadn’t hit his stride yet. Thank You, Brian Webster www.wirelessmapping.com www.Broadband-Mapping.com From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brian Webster Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 5:42 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Cellular One approach to WISP I won’t be there. Thank You, Brian Webster www.wirelessmapping.com www.Broadband-Mapping.com From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gino A. Villarini Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 2:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Cellular One approach to WISP Should we discuss it as session at wispamerica? From: Af <[email protected]> on behalf of Brian Webster <[email protected]> Reply-To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 1:50 PM To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Cellular One approach to WISP Absolutely. I have had a method like this in my head for year. Craig McCaw really helped those independent operators when he created a national branding for the A side cellular operators that had to compete with the B side that were all the established ILECs. If there were an interested group of WISP’s who wanted to explore the concept I would be willing to have a conference call and discuss. Thank You, Brian Webster www.wirelessmapping.com www.Broadband-Mapping.com From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gino A. Villarini Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 9:58 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [AFMUG] Cellular One approach to WISP Hey Guys Those who know the history behind Cellular One, don’t you think this should be repeated in the WISP industry?
