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I thought it important that all
WISPs read Matt's report about his FCC testimony today so (after
asking Matt's permission) I'm forwarding his email and hoping
that all have a chance to read it. jack -------- Original Message --------
Hi all, I thought I would drop in a few comments about the FCC’s USF workshop that is going on today. Today’s workshop is focusing on the technical aspects of delivering broadband. The morning panel that I participated in included representatives from Adtran (telco), CableLabs (cable), Juniper (mobile wireless), ViaSat (satellite) and an economist from CostQuest. I had an opportunity to have a brief visit with Zach Katz, who is one of Chairman Genachowski’s assistants, and then had a couple of minutes with the Chairman to talk about WISPs deploying broadband without any subsidies. One of the big victories in my mind, was that during the introduction to the panel and throughout the discussion, fixed wireless was mentioned repeatedly. We are having some success getting the message out that fixed wireless is different than mobile wireless. Commissioner McDowell made some comments about USF disappearing, which I think most WISPA members would like to see. I was surprised to hear that from a commissioner. I was originally slated to go second to last, but the cards were shuffled and I ended up leading off. My opening comments are published on my Wireless Cowboys blog here: http://www.wirelesscowboys.com/?p=173 I had to tone down my usual disdain for toy broadband mobile wireless and satellite and hatred of USF, but I thought that I made solid points about the performance and cost advantages of fixed wireless. The rest of the panelists were engineers and did not provide any real solid numbers about cost of deployment. I felt like my comments set a good tone for the rest of the discussion and made a strong case for fixed wireless as being the most cost effective and easiest to implement solution for delivering broadband to unserved and underserved areas. At no point during the discussion did I say that fixed wireless providers needed to be getting subsidies. My opening comments asked for fixed wireless to get consideration during the development of the CAF. Consideration includes NOT subsidizing less capable (mobile wireless/satellite) or more expensive (fiber/telco) technologies. Zach Katz mentioned that we need to do a better job of reporting our coverage areas so that USF/CAF program doesn’t subsidize projects that will overlap us. This echoes previous feedback from the FCC that we need to do a better job of reporting to the government and advertising to the public. We were asked about what was the biggest problem we are facing right now. Online video was at the top of the list. There was good discussion about that, and I also brought up the need for more access to middle mile in order to meet increasing consumer demands. I mentioned that most WISPs would rather put up their own middle mile than “deal with the devil” and buy access from the telcos. There is a comment that I made about fixed wireless being an excellent transitional bridge toward the end goal of fiber to every home. I have seen a couple of negative responses to that comment. The point I am making is that it makes more sense to put in fixed wireless now to deal with getting broadband to the people that don’t have it, so that they have SOMETHING instead of waiting the years or decades it will take for fiber to be installed at their homes. Everything was pretty civil, but I did toss a “grenade” at the end where I doubted that mobile wireless and satellite were going to be able to meet the 4/1 standard. I have a few meetings lined up with people here tonight and tomorrow morning and will continue to push the WISPA / fixed wireless agendas. It was a big honor to represent WISPs at this event today. I am so proud of what WISPs have done and are doing and it felt great to get in the ring and throw a few punches. Thank you to all of you who support WISPA. I can’t even tell you how much it means to me. Matt Larsen Vistabeam.com _______________________________________________ WISPA Membership Mailing List ----------------------------------------------- |
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