The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association is telling the Federal Communications Commission that the National Broadband Plan can and should address the market conditions that prevent wireless ISPs from obtaining “adequate, reasonably priced, and efficiently provided access to both middle mile and second mile connectivity.”
WISPA surveyed it members finding:
1) for every link in the broadband delivery chain, costs are higher when competition and access to Tier 1 carriers does not exist;
2) no single technology satisfies the needs of unserved and underserved consumers,
3) many WISPs lack the scale to win discounted pricing, and
4) affordable access to transport and connectivity facilities will become an increasingly critical problem as consumer bandwidth needs grow. WISPA recommendations cover: tariff structure, assistance to small broadband providers, open access, spectrum, funding, and access to towers and poles.
