Washington, DC, July 10, 2019 – WISPA welcomes today’s FCC action to open up the EBS spectrum to commercial use, an action that will boost broadband deployment and choice for all Americans, especially those in unserved and underserved rural areas of the country.

Washington, DC, July 9, 2019 – WISPA announced Dave Giles, Todd Harpest and Daniel White as the winners of its 2019 Board of Directors election.  White, Harpest and Giles will serve a three-year term ending in 2022, and are replacing previous Board Members Dennis Burgess, Garth Nicholas, and Mike Whelan.

Washington, DC, July 3, 2019 – WISPA filed comments with the FCC today (attached below) regarding the agency’s C-band-related inquiry on the nature of satellite and earth station operators’ rights.  In brief, our comments note that receive-only earth stations do not have license rights under Title III; their registration rights are not a sweeping grant of authority to use C-band spectrum to transmit, but are rather an exercise of the Commission’s ancillary authority under Title I of the Act for the limited purpose of interference protection.  That stated, the FCC does have authority to require new flexible-use C-band licensees to compensate receive-only earth station operators for modifying or relocating their registered facilities in exchange for clearing a portion of the band.

Washington, DC, June 19, 2019 – Today, the FCC circulated a draft report and order, which, among other things, would afford EBS licensees additional flexibility by eliminating outdated educational requirements; allow the transfer of EBS licenses to commercial entities; and provide for the auction of that spectrum on a county-wide basis.  The agency also will consider an NPRM and Declaratory Ruling that would work to promote broadband deployment and competition in apartments, condominiums, office buildings, and other multiple tenant environments (MTEs). 

Washington, DC, June 12, 2019 – Today, the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) and broadband infrastructure provider, Crown Castle, hosted a congressional briefing for Hill staff and policymakers, outlining for attendees how the fixed wireless Internet industry is working to bridge the rural digital divide by deploying high-speed internet to unserved and underserved rural communities quickly and inexpensively.