WISPs Seek More Spectrum, Subsidies to Close Digital Divide

Making more spectrum available for such ISPs is as important as subsidies for increasing broadband, Wireless ISP Association President Claude Aiken said on a webinar Wednesday. “We need to have a multifaceted solution to getting incredibly high speed broadband … to 100% of Americans.” WISPA called for localizing spectrum policy, with more licenses for WISPs and other players “to supercharge competition” and get to 1 Gbps. Subsidies should focus on current providers, “resulting in significant savings today while still delivering evolutionary capabilities of the future,” the plan said. Aiken urged the FCC to offer smaller geographic licenses than proposed in the 3.45 GHz auction (see 2103170061). The partial economic area licensing model “forecloses participation by some of these smaller providers that serve rural communities today,” he said. WISPA wants use-it-or-share-it rules in future auctions, he said. Aiken said some WISPs need utilize unlicensed spectrum, though thousands of megahertz of licensed spectrum goes unused. Federal subsidies aren’t reaching the least populated, hardest-to-reach areas, he said: “We’re wary of programs that would subsidize connectivity in suburbia before it really gets out to rural America.” Infrastructure rules, especially on pole access, are important, he said. "All the money in the world isn’t going to do much good if you can’t get into a right of way or onto a pole or onto a tower.”