Mobile operators today face a multifaceted challenge: deploying 5G, expanding LTE networks, and re-strategizing their build and maintenance processes. The key is to control costs while maintaining network performance – a delicate balance in our rapidly evolving industry.

Amdocs Network Performance Management addresses these challenges by providing accurate, efficient network monitoring. In this webinar, Farhan Majid explores how the solution delivers a clear view of performance while minimizing operational costs through automation and integrated reporting.

On the agenda:

• Real-time network monitoring for informed decision-making
• Multi-tenancy systems that enhance operational efficiency
• User access controls that align with organizational structures
• Data isolation techniques for network security
• Leveraging advanced analytics to optimize performance

eSIM is a key factor in a digital-first carrier approach, but did you know that Device Entitlements are pivotal for carriers to provide the best possible eSIM experience to their customers?

Until recently, access to Entitlements technology was mostly out of reach for smaller carriers, but this has recently changed due to a novel PaaS approach that allows all Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) to unlock the full potential of Apple and Android handsets on their networks.

Device OEMs view Entitlements as the key to unlocking their future roadmaps, and so in this webinar, the presenters introduced the technology, explained how it works, and how you can get it up and running in your network quickly, painlessly – and most importantly – affordably.

Presented by Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) and NetLync.

This engaging discussion provided an overview of SCS and how it will impact rural carriers, avenues for engagement between rural carriers and SCS providers, and regulatory approaches. The presenter included a discussion on interference risks to terrestrial carriers and users; the interaction between SCS providers, carriers, and end use customers; as well as an overview of the players in the SCS ecosystem. And he discussed the different approaches to SCS and how those integrate with carrier networks.

Your presenter: Tony DeTora, VP Government Affairs, Lynk Global – Tony joined Lynk in 2019 as VP Government Affairs. Prior to that, he spent 10 years working for the US House of Representatives as Senior Policy Advisor in member personal offices and for the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Prior to his work on the Hill, Tony served in various roles in both industry and non-profits focused on space exploration and development.

Currently, 988 calls are routed based on area code and prefix, resulting in more than half of 988 calls routing to a crisis call center that is far away from where the caller is located.  In this webinar, leaders from Intrado discussed a solution, available today, to improve 988 routing by applying 911 technology.

The FCC first called attention to this in May 2022 through a public workshop and then reached out to Intrado to lead a proof of concept to show how 911 core routing technology and infrastructure could be leveraged to improve 988 routing.  The proof of concept involved not only the FCC and Intrado but also a major wireless carrier, the 988 network administrator, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (which owns the 988 program), and demonstrated how 911 technology can be used to improve the routing of 988 calls.  In September 2023, FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel issued letters to industry expressing her desire for an industry-led solution rather than creating new regulatory obligations.

Learn more about Supplemental Coverage from Space and the latest studies on integrating terrestrial and satellite networks and options to optimize these networks.

To facilitate the integration of satellite and terrestrial networks, the FCC proposed a new regulatory framework for Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) on March 17, 2023.  The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) develops radio access technology for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN).  A promising application of this technology is to provide broadband coverage direct to handhelds with LEO satellites using earth-fixed beams.

Although the satellite communications industry would benefit from dedicated, globally harmonized broadband radio spectrum allocations, at least in a part of the bands, satellite communication shares the radio frequencies with terrestrial users.  There are also areas where the interference caused by LEO satellite communication systems have interference restrictions.  The borders of interference restrictions, in most cases, follow the inland country borders or territorial sea extending 12 nautical miles outside the countries’ baselines.

The presenter discussed a study that addresses the optimization of LEO satellite networks around interference-restricted areas.  Examples of interference-restricted areas include the South-West part of continental France and the LEO satellites covering the North Spain and a part of the Atlantic Ocean.  This webinar explained how interference-restricted areas affect the commonly used sharing parameters like Minimum Separation Distance (MSD) and elevation angles in earth-fixed beam LEO satellite constellations.

You could spend most of your work time reading about various cyber topics.  And what this generally leads to is paralysis by over analysis.  A feeling of being lost and fear takes over. There are so many companies in the cyber security, defense, and insurance space because the risk is real and so is the fear.

This webinar aims to help you quantify what an incident would mean for your company.  Specifically, attendees were walked through a loss calculator and what is intended to be included in each section of risk.  The goal is that each attendee will have a good idea of how to use a generic tool but personalize it for their specific company and circumstances.

We are available for individual follow-up with anyone who would like.  In these post seminar sessions, and when one on one, we can help define the loss and go a step further to discuss the impact on the financial statement of a company.

Contact Peter Elliott, President and CEO of Telcom Insurance Group, at pje@telcominsgrp.com.

IoT is transforming the way organizations are conducting business and is poised for massive growth, with wireless networks playing a key enablement role.  This new phase of digitalization is empowering businesses to work faster, smarter, safer, and more efficiently.

One of the biggest barriers and restrictions of IoT enablement is poor connectivity.  In this webinar, you’ll learn about the different wireless and fiber solutions that are crucial to IoT connectivity and how you can unleash the full potential of IoT within your organization.

Presenters provided demos that illustrate significant capabilities in service creation, publishing, and billing, and discussed use cases from companies around the world that have successfully installed and created effective and interesting services.

Effortel is a global Business Support System (BSS)/OSS provider, a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) and Virtual Operator (MVNO) with over 17 years of experience supporting 7 million subscribers globally. Its BSS solution, EMS, is now available in North America and is ideal for small-medium operators. EMS provides significant cost and revenue benefits.

As networks grow in size and complexity, many operators are suffering from information chaos creating confusion, inefficiencies, poor planning and network performance.  The result is customer dissatisfaction, high CAPEX/OPEX and overall deficient financial results.  The presenters explained the concept of “Digital Twin”, why it is important for Network Operators and how emerging technologies and tools can help them consolidate network information, creating a single source of truth and restoring order.

This webinar was designed for Network Operator corporate executives, marketing and product management personnel, and customer care management who would like to learn how to speed up product and service development, reduce software operating expenses, get to market faster and increase customer satisfaction.

Effortel’s Business Support System (BSS) solution, EMS (Effortel Mobile Suite), is now available in North America focusing on small-medium operators.  EMS provides significant cost and revenue benefits.  It is developed using the latest web-services technologies and interfaces easily with existing systems. EMS has a true centralized multi-country, multi-currency infrastructure, and does not carry any legacy out-of-date code that slows performance.  It significantly reduces complexity and service development time by eliminating the need for expensive and time-consuming coding.

Effortel is a global BSS/OSS provider, a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) and Virtual Operator (MVNO) with over 17 years of experience supporting 7 million subscribers globally.  Effortel’s products are installed in over 30 large and autonomous MVNOs in Europe, running on eight Mobile Network Operators in the Middle East, Euro-Asia, Africa, and Asia.  Effortel has delivered versatile services to MNOs in those regions.  Effortel owns two operating MVNOs in Italy and Belgium using EMS technology.

This webinar introduces Effortel and EMS, key EMS business benefits and high-level technical features, along with case studies.

Topics included:

• What is network sharing?
• What is a neutral host?
• High level network architecture
• UE configuration
• Mobility procedures
• Macro network to neutral host transitions
• Neutral host to macro network transitions
• Idle and in campus mobility in a neutral host
• Geofencing for a neutral host
• RAN Sharing
• Services on neutral host

What are the benefits of adopting an Open and Disaggregated approach when deploying wireless transport networks?  The presenter discussed the latest trends, industry drivers, and key aspects of Open Transport Network design.

Are you looking to implement new technology for your network rollout and expansion plans without hurting your operating income and cash flows? Have you considered private capital as a source of financing that will help maintain a healthy balance sheet for your company and allow you to focus on providing the best-in-class service to your subscribers as well as stay on top of emerging market trends and competition?

Listen to this webinar as Alok Sarsidharan, Senior Manager at Macquarie Group, discusses innovative financing facilities that will help answer the above questions and enable you to engage in a proactive approach to building and enhancing your network capacity by leveraging private capital in the form of equipment and operating leases. This webinar is aimed at providing creative financing insights to network operators, vendors, sub-contractors, fiber deployment companies, internet services providers, and Multiple System Operators.

Macquarie Group Limited (Macquarie) is a global financial services group providing clients with asset management, retail and business banking, wealth management, leasing and asset financing, market access, commodity trading, renewables development, specialist advice, access to capital and principal investment. Founded in 1969, Macquarie employs over 18,000 people in 33 markets. At 31 March 2022, Macquarie had assets under management of $US580.2 billion. For further information, visit www.macquarie.com

Spica Systems has developed a complete suite of easy-to-use cloud native functions for designing and operating a Private 5G network with ultra-high-reliability and security.  Listen to this webinar and learn more about:

• Collection of cloud native 5G virtual network functions (VNFs)
• Multi-site federation engine for Kubernetes managed 5G VNFs 
• Purpose-built test & measurement tool for 5G core infrastructure
• Lightweight private cloud OS platform for 5G VNFs to run on

Congress and government agencies have increased their focus on the security of critical infrastructure amid a rise in ransomware attacks and heightened fears of cyberattacks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Under the leadership of Executive Director Brandon Wales, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has stepped up its efforts to work with critical infrastructure providers, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, to improve their cyber resilience in the face of these serious national security threats.

Jill Canfield, General Counsel and Vice President of Policy, NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, moderated this session hosted by CyberShare: The Small Broadband Provider ISAC and other industry partners.

The webinar included a presentation from Mr. Wales about the current risk environment, CISA’s role in building public-private partnerships with critical infrastructure operators and how broadband providers can work with the agency to combat the increasing attacks.

Later this summer in Auction 108, the FCC will unleash in many parts of the country over 100 megahertz of valuable 2.5 GHz mid-band spectrum, which has not been commercially available in decades! Auction 108 will likely be the last sub-6 GHz auction over the next several years. May 10 is the deadline for interested parties to apply for the opportunity to bid. Listen to this webinar for a practical overview and discussion of this spectrum band’s benefits and how to become auction savvy.

You may contact the presenters through their contact information below:

Bob Silverman, Partner, Womble Bond Dickinson; T: 202.857.4532; E: bob.silverman@wbd-us.com

David Fritz, Senior Consulting Engineer, Nokia; T: 202.536.4488; E: david.fritz@nokia.com

Barlow Keener, Senior Counsel, Womble Bond Dickinson; T: 781.858.1588; E: barlow.keener@wbd-us.com

According to Cisco’s 2020 Global Internet Report, North America’s forecasted average fixed and mobile connection speeds will reach ~142 Mbps and ~58 Mbps respectively by 2023. This represents approximately a 2.5-fold growth from 2018. The current COVID-19 pandemic is further accelerating overall speed and capacity needs — creating serious bottlenecks in transport networks.

This webinar offers the audience a perspective on the latest trends in wireless transport with a focus on how operators can leverage the use of wider channels in both Microwave and Millimeter wave frequencies to increase speeds and meet, or even exceed, customers’ satisfaction.

We explore:

• Wireless Backhaul/Transport Trends
• Frequency band landscape including licensed, lightly licensed, and unlicensed
• Technology options and use cases — Using wireless to compliment or replace fiber optic rollouts
• THE GAME CHANGER: How the use of wide band channels can provide considerably higher capacity

Check out this educational webinar to find out how wireless technology and a more efficient use of spectrum can change your business model.  Presented by Ceragon.

Newaya, a leading device trade-in and IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) provider to the Regional Carrier market, walked members through the process and payment models they use with their clients to create a phone trade-in program for them and their customers.

They shared their innovative payment models that reduce the costs by paying the customer directly for their device, and how creating compelling offers and “discounts” to drive more phone sales and higher accessory attach rates.

A number of small providers are receiving patent demand letters with a settlement or licensing offer to avoid litigation.  How should you respond?  Should you respond?  Many of these letters are a typical part of the playbook of entities that have been variously called “non-practicing entities” (NPEs) or “patent trolls.”  Join us to learn about patent infringement claims, NPEs and other entities who send demand letters, the litigation process, and things you should consider when deciding on an appropriate course of action.

Presented by Dr. Chris Mammen and Carrie Richey of Womble Bond Dickinson, LLC.

Cyber threat information-sharing in a trusted environment enables network operators to leverage the collective knowledge, experience, and capabilities of governmental, other public, and private sources to help protect the network.  Presenters discussed NTCA’s CyberShare: The Small Broadband Provider ISAC and the essential role that cyber threat information-sharing can play in protecting critical infrastructure and how CyberShare’s additional resources are helping to ensure members are cyber ready.

Are you looking for new ways to utilize handset trade in, pricing and financing, handset protection, accessory sales programs to capture more sales, retain more customers, and increase the overall revenue flow from these transactions?   In this webinar, presenters Brennan Zelener and Bill Baldwin, of Newaya, discussed these valuable transaction options and show you a way to use Apple, Samsung and Big 3 carrier advertising to your advantage.

Brennan and Bill bring over 35 years of combined experience in developing sales and marketing programs in the wireless industry and shared information on strategic partners to work with to enhance offers.

The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau provided an overview of the requirements and expectations of the FCC’s supply chain reimbursement program, as outlined in this Third Report and Order and August 3 Public Notice.  The FCC also discussed the intricate obligations of participating carriers during their replacement, removal, and disposal processes, including details about the filing window, reimbursement claims, and reporting.

Thank you FCC presentation sponsors!

Platinum:  Ericsson, Mavenir, and QCommunications

Silver:  Womble Bond Dickinson

Bronze:  Monte R. Lee & Company

Presenters provided a recap of the Smart & Secure Networks Summit and discussed the many challenges companies face in rebuilding and future-proofing mobile networks. Presenters and their contact information is provided below.

• Workforce Considerations:   Kelley Dunne, AmeriCrew – kdunne@novationmail.com
• Supply Chain Delays Due to Chip Shortages:   Mark Wood, Nokia – mark.wood@nokia.com
• Takeaways on OpenRAN:   John Baker, Mavenir – john.baker@mavenir.com
• FCC Reimbursement Program:   Nick Solano, QCommunications – nick@qcomm.tv
• Moderator:  Carri Bennet, RWA General Counsel – carri.bennet@wbd-us.com

Thank you Summit webinar sponsors!

Silver:  Rosenberger Site Solutions

Bronze:  Red Mountain Scientific and Telsasoft

In the latest installment of the RWA Path to 5G series, WWT presented a continuation of the 5G 101 webinar.  The presenters discussed practical considerations and challenges that companies face as they move towards 5G.  Some of the content covered included:

• SA vs NSA architecture
• VOLTE
• Spectrum considerations
• 5G and Rip and Replace efforts
• 5G and the transport network
• And much more.

There is no doubt that 5G is the road to the future but there are still many InterGENerational networks like 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE in service that are functional and delivering on their promise.  So how do you manage the transition from legacy to new, from known and trusted technologies to a new paradigm?  Simple.  Through a dramatic shift from the traditional physical infrastructure to an enterprise IT network infrastructure that is distributed, cloud-based, and enabled by orchestration capabilities.

In this session NetNumber helped listeners gain an understanding of a 5G Services Based Architecture (SBA) and how it differs from legacy mobility solutions.
NetNumber discussed modern heterogeneous deployment models including, Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Containers, and CI/CD automation, and wrapped it up by discussing the opportunities and migration strategies for rural carriers.

In bridging the digital divide and connecting the underserved communities, operators are challenged to provide cost-effective services. The openness of wireless networks encourages innovation and drives the cost down.  Baicells is a contributing member at the O-RAN Alliance who specifies Open RAN standards and a founding member at the Telecom Infrastructure Project (TIP) who promotes Open RAN ecosystems.  This informative webinar was about Open RAN and how it changes the game of wireless communications.  In the webinar, we covered the following topics:

• The architecture of Open RAN
• The Open RAN ecosystems
• Open RAN technologies and evolution

CBRS presented a tremendous opportunity for regional carriers to generate additional revenues from new services such as Fixed Wireless Access (FWA).  But where do you start?

This webinar provided a practical guide for those interested in learning more about the CBRS opportunity and how they can leverage its capabilities even if they don’t have CBRS spectrum.  Our speakers outlined:

• Overview of CBRS & Fixed Wireless Access market & technology
• Opportunities for operators to use CBRS to gain additional revenue
• Real case studies showing how regional carriers can take advantage of CBRS
• The next step operators can take to begin earning more revenue with CBRS & FWA

They will shared real-world experience of building CBRS networks for a range of applications, helping shorten the time to market for ambitions operators looking to capitalize on the opportunity.

Speakers:

• Ivan Goridkov, Director Network Solutions, Ericsson North America
• Dennie Mecham, Chief Operations Officer, RINA Wireless
• Bert Potts, Board member for RINA Wireless and RWA

The RINA Wireless Networks is a peer-to-peer combination of independent communication service providers (CSPs) joining forces to secure the future of rural America, currently hosting multiple carriers with all the services needed to be in complete compliance with service offerings that Tier 1 carriers deliver such as VoLTE, CDMA, LTE, VoWiFi and Fixed Wireless to name a few.  For over 15 years, RINA Wireless has been providing wireless switching services, core hosting and investment in infrastructure, making them a proven, reliable source for hosting other carriers.

Justin Faulb, Legal Advisor in the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, provided an overview of the requirements and expectations of the FCC’s supply chain reimbursement program, as outlined in this Second Report and Order.  Mr. Faulb also discussed the intricate obligations of participating carriers during their replacement, removal and disposal processes, including details about the filing window, reimbursement claims, and reporting.  You can learn more about this Second Report and Order prior to this webinar in this RWA Member Briefing.

Trilogy CEO, George Woodward, the RWA representative on the FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force, reviewed the findings and recommendations to support rural America in this critical push leverage technology for the American farmer.

Hear first-hand how the Task Force prioritizes programs to support the deployment of 5G and other high speed connectivity initiatives to aid the US in their efforts to deliver food security and sustainability, eliminate the digital divide and adoption of precision agriculture technologies.

Specific programs of discussion:

• Agriculture Infrastructure inclusion in existing FCC and USDA programs
• New standards requirements for connectivity
• Farm field & pastureland coverage incentives
• Potential pilot programs

The number of robocalls, instances of fraud from these calls, and subsequent revenue losses are all rising to alarming levels. In fact, according to a February 2020 GSMA report, 26.3 billion robocalls were received in 2018 in the U.S. alone.  According to the 2019 CFCA Fraud Loss Survey, telecom fraud is causing global annual losses of $28.3 billion (USD). On average, 1.74% of telecom operator’s revenue is lost due to fraud. RWA members share in this burden and need a solution to it.

The Secure Telephone Identity Revisited (STIR) protocol and the framework for implementing it, Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs (SHAKEN), are FCC-mandated steps to combat unwanted robocalling. The FCC has established a mandatory compliance date of 30 June 2021 for SIP/VoIP STIR/SHAKEN. SS7 solutions are under consideration at this moment.

This webinar will briefly overview STIR/SHAKEN, look at its current regulatory status, examine the implementations for both SIP and SS7 and detail NetNumber’s Guaranteed Caller solutions for these two key calling scenarios. RWA webinar attendees will come away with a deeper understanding of STIR/SHAKEN, the FCC’s requirements of them for this new technology and the way in which NetNumber’s Guaranteed Caller can bring them into full compliance in a smooth, successful and economical way.

Jonathan McCormack of the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau provided a review of the FCC’s 5G Rural Fund Order with RWA members and guests.  He  reviewed important points related to legacy support carriers and key issues impacting the reverse auction.

The 5G Fund Report and Order can be downloaded on the 5G Fund web site: https://www.fcc.gov/5g-fund/

General inquiries about the 5G Fund can be directed to 5GFund@fcc.gov.

Jonathan McCormack serves as the Deputy Director of the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force at the FCC.  Prior to that role, he served as an attorney advisor in the Office of Economics and Analytics, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and with the Incentive Auction Task Force.  In 2019, he received the FCC’s Employee of the Year award for his contributions in designing, overseeing, and launching facets of the Mobility Fund Phase II challenge process.

Over the last few years, the telecom industry has been moving towards increased openness due to the benefits it can bring to global ecosystems and innovation, and Open RAN is an important part of that movement. As with any technological change, Open RAN presents several opportunities, along with some challenges. As a contributing member to the Open RAN Alliance and multiple other open network forums, Ericsson understands these technology changes well.

Please join us for this informative webinar about Open RAN and its potential future. In the webinar, we will cover the following topics:
•             What is Open RAN?
•             What are the benefits of Open RAN?
•             What are the challenges that Open RAN presents?

Presenter:

Paul Challoner, Head of Network Product Solutions for Ericsson North America, is based in Plano, Texas. He is responsible for radio solutions including 4G, 5G & IOT. Prior to his current role, Challoner worked as Head of Product Line Wi-Fi and Head of Ericsson’s CDMA Product Line.

Challoner joined Ericsson in 2010 from Nortel where he held executive roles leading the GSM product group, Intelligent Networks and Broadband Wireless businesses. He has global experience working in the US, Canada, France, India and the UK. With 20 years in the telecom industry he possesses extensive industry experience and has innovated bringing numerous radio products to market specializing in the field of wireless communication.

Challoner holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Brunel University, London, UK.

As mobile networks increase in complexity and density it is critical to understand the options and criteria for choosing the right transport medium.  While fiber is typically the primary go-to medium it is not possible to use it in all cases.  The presenter explored the new trends in mobile network transport architecture and how wireless can fill the gap and in many cases be the better technical and economic choice.  He also discussed how a disaggregated and software defined radio architecture benefits operators as they plan for future 5G deployments.

The key takeaways from this session are to better understand the transport options available to the wireless operator.  Factors such as speed to market, up front capital expenditures, ongoing operational expenses, and future proofing your network were covered.

Presenter biography:
Jim Brake is a wireless industry veteran with over 25 years of sales, product management, and product development experience.  Mr. Brake worked for many years at Alcatel-Lucent, holding a variety of product management and sales roles.  While at ALU Mr. Brake worked on the Sprint customer team, ultimately being promoted to lead the entire Sprint engagement.  Since leaving ALU, Mr. Brake has held senior executive positions with Technicolor, a provider of cable systems, and with the telecommunications services company Glow Networks.  Mr. Brake joined Ceragon earlier this year to lead the direct sales engagements in the US and Caribbean regions.  Mr. Brake holds a MSEE from the University of Missouri and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

CBRS gives rural wireless operators the ability to expand coverage and capacity and deploy LTE-grade wireless services at price points comparable to Wi-Fi. With CBRS, operators finally have a high-speed, low-cost solution for serving customers in rural communities and growing revenue through new high-performance wireless services.

To capitalize on these benefits, many rural providers must migrate their operations from the existing Part 90 service (3650-3700 MHz) to CBRS Part 96 (3550-3700 MHz) before the October 2020 deadline, or risk losing access to the spectrum altogether.

Presenters from Federated Wireless and Cambium discussed the business case and the projected ROI.  They reviewed the steps required for a successful migration project, and provided some tips for deployment.

Presenters: 

Ken Jackson is a Technical Account Director at Federated Wireless. Ken has more than 25 years of experience developing technology and telecommunications solutions with over 15 years in wireless and 3 years in CBRS. Past companies include several new technology start-ups, AT&T, Sprint PCS, and Citrix.

Todd Gore is VP of Sales at Federated Wireless. Todd brings more than 15 years of experience in leading and building sales teams in the wireless and telecom industry with a specific focus on software sales to service providers. Before joining Federated Wireless, Todd was the regional vice president of sales for Telecom at Citrix Systems following the acquisition of ByteMobile in 2012.

Matt Mangriotis is Director of Product Management and currently leads Cambium Networks’ Point-To-Multipoint (PMP) portfolio of products.  He has spent over 20 years in telecommunications, leading New Product Introduction for Motorola. Maintaining continuity through the inception of Cambium Networks, Matt launched the PMP 450 portfolio.  Most recently, Matt has launched the cnMedusa™ Massive Multi-User MIMO technology, enabling Cambium customers to take advantage of CBRS.

Carrier Roundtable on Managing Retail Operations during COVID-19

Many wireless providers are struggling to successfully adapt their retail operations to new and abruptly changing requirements during this time of COVID-19.  RWA Carrier Members discussed their strategies and direct experience maintaining strong customer service and profitability.

Panelists discussed effective solutions to retail challenges.  Discussion topics included:

• Dependable sources for current laws and regulations
• What is advisable beyond the letter of the law?
• Implementing changes in-store and online
• Preparing and managing retail staff
• Actual experiences from interactions with customers – what worked and what didn’t
• More!

Our Carrier Roundtable Moderator and Panelists:

• Jake Baldwin – Moderator, Cross Wireless, General Counsel
• Eric Cramer, Wilkes Communications / RiverStreet Networks, President and CEO
• Anthony (Tony) Provenzano, Bravado Wireless, Sales and Marketing Manager
• Cindy Quesenbury, PTCI/Panhandle, Director of Customer, Member & Marketing Operations
• Kim Tumlinson, West Central Wireless, Business Operations Manager

“Hiring Veterans Can Positively Impact Your Organization and Its Bottom Line”

Companies are constantly looking for ways to discover, hire and retain solid employees they can rely on.   The presenters highlighted their direct experiences hiring Veterans and the many ways Veterans can create a stronger workforce and improve your company’s bottom line.  While many companies are aware that Veteran employees create good will and positive PR, Veterans’ unique skills sets (dependability, work ethic, etc.), and the financial incentives offered, provide substantial benefits to companies.  Listen to this webinar and learn more about the benefits and how to tap into this valued human resource!

Presenters:
Izzy Abbass is an Army Veteran and has spent over 20-years in the telecommunications industry.  He is currently the Vice President of Strategic Alliances for Trilogy Networks, Inc.  Izzy has over a decade of involvement in the Veteran community, serving as the Commander of Post 1 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Vice President of the United Veterans Committee of Colorado.

John Nettles has been the President of Pine Belt Telephone Company for over 25 years serving rural areas of west central Alabama.  John also served as a Captain in the Army.

Kelley Dunne has more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and is recognized as an industry pioneer in deploying some of the first 4G broadband wireless capacities across the country. Kelley is currently the President and Co-Founder of Warriors4Wireless (www.warriors4wireless.org) and the CEO of Novation Services.

Supercharging Indoor/Campus Broadband & Functionality (Wi-Fi 6E)

FCC’s April 23rd monthly meeting opened a new unlicensed band in the 6 GHz (5.925-7.125 GHz) band bringing 1200 MHz of untapped spectrum to the telecommunications toolbox.  Nokia Bell Lab’s experts discussed: what Wi-Fi 6E technology evolution has to offer; outlined the comparison of Wi-Fi 6 vs. 5G NR; and gave a look into cutting edge research on how these evolving technologies will supercharge network functionality and data collection.

Nokia’s presenters:

“Get started with CBRS Using Google Technology”

To foster long-term success for the CBRS ecosystem, Google has brought to market a suite of cloud-based products and services. Google offers a Spectrum Access System (SAS), a powerful web-based network planner, and CPI training and certification. The presenter explained and provided a demo of their latest technology and how Google can get companies started with CBRS.

Presenter: Rob Katcher, Wireless Services, Google

OpenRAN – What It Is and What It Means for Rural Operators

Mavenir provided a detailed discussion on OpenRAN, the Capex/Opex savings, and how it’s being deployed in different parts of the world.

Mavenir speaker information:

John Baker, Senior Vice President.  John is a veteran of the mobile industry and leads the 5G team at Mavenir, intent on disrupting the market by transforming operator network economics.  A visionary and driving force behind Mavenir’s business strategy, John is at the forefront of the company’s drive to change operator views on wireless infrastructure deployment—promoting a software-focused approach to innovation, with no ties to supporting legacy hardware.

Prior to joining Mavenir, John held senior positions with leading wireless companies, including GM Mobility Infrastructure at Spirent Communications, CommScope, Nokia, and Pacific Bell Mobile Services.

CBRS Auction 105: What You Need to Know Before You Bid?

Monte R. Lee & Company (MRL) experts discussed the intricacies of the CBRS structure and then fully detailed the auction format and process.

The webinar discussed the following components:

• Defining the incumbent, PAL and GAA
• Pros and cons for GAA and PAL
• Auction territories
• Cost analysis
• Bidding credits for small businesses, very small businesses and rural service providers
• Bidding credit caps
• Short Form application requirements (FCC Form 175)
• Post-auction filing (Long Form)
• Timelines

MRL speaker information:

• Jerry Adams, Project Manager.  He has 24 years of experience in the wireless industry assisting clients with broadband wireless design, site procurement and leasing, tower construction, FCC licensing and project coordination.
• Madison Jones, Design Specialist. She is an Engineer-in-Training for her professional license.  She has two engineering degrees from the University of Oklahoma. Madison services MRL’s client base in assisting with FCC MF II testing and auction analysis and is a past FCC auction participant.  She also serves as a FTTH Design Specialist and OSP Coordinator.

“Equipment Upgrade, Replacement, and Pricing Strategies in the Wireless Marketplace”,  presented by University Technical Services, Inc. (UT-Services), RWA’s newest member.

With past performance at more than 60 military sites, and an in depth knowledge of current challenges in the wireless marketplace, UTS shared compelling thoughts regarding equipment upgrade strategies, mitigating loss in security-required equipment replacements (Huawei), and stands ready to assist with special VAR pricing for equipment, complex inside and outside plant design and installations. Having successfully brought Federal/DoD standards to the data center industry, UTS extends these best practices with economies of scale to the RWA membership in 2020.

This webinar introduced listeners to a unique opportunity through POWDER (Platform for Open Wireless Data-driven Experimental Research), a mobile and wireless research platform. The platform is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded city-scale “living laboratory” and is part of the NSF Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program.

All FCC funding programs have compliance standards to be met and deadlines to meet them. Compliance reporting is never easy, and it should not be left to the last minute or dependent upon requests for deadline extensions. This session will outline the situations where compliance reporting is required, assess possible strategies to manage those compliance reporting obligations, and provide a quick survey of FCC reporting options in order to remain compliant.

In July 2019, DISH distributed an RFI/RFP to dozens of vendors in connection with its planned 5G deployment.  As the RFI/RFP explained, DISH is planning to build a greenfield, standalone, and cloud-native 5G network. The timeline of this network will start with a trial of 5G wireless services in an individual market beginning in early 2020, continue with a commercial launch of initial use cases and markets by the end of 2020, and a nationwide deployment of 5G wireless services to be completed by the first half of 2023.

Additionally, as reported, DISH entered into a series of agreements and arrangements with the United States government, T-Mobile and Sprint that materially impact its deployment plans and will facilitate and accelerate its entry into the wireless market as a nationwide facilities-based carrier.

This webinar discussed the possible opportunities for rural carriers associated with DISH’s 5G deployment and the set of agreements referenced above.  The webinar provided an overview of DISH’s deployment plans and highlighted partnership opportunities with rural carriers, including those related to fiber and transport.

Fixed and Mobile networks are evolving in the same direction towards better coverage and higher speeds. 5G will unlock Gigabit speeds and massive connectivity and transform our lives in ways only limited by our imagination. Speed of light is not fast enough to support 5G latency requirements therefore we will have to redesign the network to support 5G use cases.

The presentation will de-mystify 5G for Rural Operators and share latest news on 5G developments and deployments.

The audience will learn about the evolution of RAN and CORE to support 5G and the impact of 5G on Fiber networks. A four-minute video will be shown to demonstrate industrial use case for 5G and the significance of latency in the future 5G network.

Ericsson’s VP Chief Technology Officer, GS Strickland, presented a dynamic webinar on “Fixed Wireless Access – Path to Economical Rural Broadband”.  Presenter notes available for download.

Nokia and RWA Member, Copper Valley, presented a webinar titled, “Evolution of Voice from VoLTE to 5G”.

Happily, IMS is advertised to be “access transparent” so no big deal, right? Or is it? The reality isn’t quite as clean as the advertising might lead you to believe.

In this webinar our presenters discussed the evolution from a VoLTE network to a voice over 5G network, the interim steps, and the migration period it will require.

RWA and Mosaik presented a highly informative webinar titled,  “Embrace the Challenge:  How to Collect Empirical Data, Fight for USF Support and Deliver Improved Broadband to Rural America.”    Our presenters highlighted the FCCs recent Order on Reconsideration and Second Report and Order in the Mobility Fund Phase II proceeding and provided thoughts on how to efficiently and cost-effectively manage the challenge process to help you fight for the USF support you need to deliver improved broadband to rural America.

RWA members, RADWIN, Bennet & Bennet PLLC, and t3 Broadband presented a resourceful webinar titled, “Transitioning your 3.65 GHz License to the New 3.5 GHz Band.” This webinar informs viewers of the new 3550-3700 MHz (3.5 GHz) band Citizens Broadband Radio Service created by the FCC in 2015 and the implications for rural wireless carriers and others within the industry.

RWA-Huawei Webinar on the Rural Internet of Things: RWA and our member Huawei hosted, “The Rural Internet of Things, Case Studies & Business Opportunities for Rural Carriers” webinar. The webinar was presented by Jim Parker, the Director of Wireless Product Management at Huawei.

RWA-GSMA Webinar on Mobile Device Crime: RWA and GSMA joined together to host a highly informative webinar entitled, “How to Block Lost/Stolen Mobile Devices by Using Device ID (IMEI/MEID/ESN) and Global Black Lists.” The webinar was presented by Jason Smith, the Senior Director of GSMA Device Check. If you missed this webinar we encourage you to listen to the recording to gain new resources and insights into this important topic.