What’s Under the Hood of WISPA’s “Path to Gigabit” Plan

 By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief The fixed Wireless Internet Service Providers Association intends to lobby Congress and the FCC about its “Path to Gigabit” proposal. WISPA President/CEO Claude Aiken says tailored policy solutions can connect communities to affordable, futureproof broadband “without having to spend billions over the next decade.”
 
“We’ve tried money before. We need a multifaceted solution” to bridge the digital divide in rural America, “one that goes beyond dollars,” he said during a press briefing Wednesday. The plan entails using WISPs already providing service to their communities, he said.
 
Part of the three-legged plan calls for freeing up more mid-band spectrum for smaller innovators. He suggested 200 MHz in the upper portion of the C-band or in the 3.1-3.5 GHz would be ideal. Aiken said: “coordinated, non-auctioned, high power, point-to-multipoint use, either on a shared or license by rule basis” would work. The association favors a localized spectrum policy to increase competition, urging more accessible spectrum for diverse, smaller innovators to boost connectivity in the hardest to serve parts of rural, suburban and urban America. Continue Reading