Broadband Wireless Alliance (BWA) Establishes
New Working Committees to Spearhead Coordination
within the Broadband Wireless Industry

New committees will allow industry leaders to determine the
direction of the industry and keep government regulation to a minimum

Gilbert, AZ, August 27, 2002 – The Broadband Wireless Alliance (BWA) today announced the creation of seventeen (17) new Broadband Wireless Working Committees to begin the process of establishing coordination and promoting the progress being made by the hundreds of vendors, wireless operators, and end users in the Broadband Wireless Industry.  The new committees add to the BWA's existing portfolio of services that help small companies within the wireless industry design publicity, advertising, marketing and customer acquisition programs to promote their business.

At many recent industry events, such as the sold out WISP.x Conference and Tradeshow  in Washington, DC., many industry leaders including the FCC have repeatedly said that the wireless industry, and in particular, the growing number of wireless Internet Service providers that use public spectrum, needs to establish some form of self regulation and organization under an umbrella industry association in order to establish a presence on Capital Hill.  The new BWA committees' mission will be to accomplish this and many other objectives for the Broadband Wireless Industry.

Many growing Wireless ISPs use what is known as public spectrum because the Federal Government does not require an expensive license to operate in these frequency bands.  However, since the spectrum is public, anyone can use it to begin providing high-speed Internet access.  In order to allow multiple WISPs to operate in the same metroplex, all WISPs would benefit greatly from some type of frequency coordination.

Currently, there is no official body that has accepted this responsibility.  The BWA’s WISP Frequency Coordination Committee will begin working with hundreds of wireless ISPs to determine and establish a common set of guidelines that will allow multiple operators to avoid interference and operate successfully in their markets.  The WISP Frequency Coordination Committee will also keep track of WISPs and will serve as a starting point for the FCC when a formal complaint is filed.  This will be important because it will allow the FCC to determine who launched wireless service in a market first, and a second operator that might be interfering with an existing network's performance, which is a violation of the FCC’s Article 15.

Another important committee is the BWA’s FCC and Regulatory Issues Committee.  There is a lot of political maneuvering going on in Washington, D.C. with respect to spectrum allocation.  Licensed spectrum holders want to take over unlicensed spectrum currently allocated to public bands.  Current unlicensed operators want more spectrum to be able to provide more robust services.  FCC officials have said that they have been tasked with providing broadband to as many people as possible as quickly as possible by any means possible and view wireless Internet access as a real broadband contender.

The FCC is very aware of the progress that the WISPs are making and would like to see the current growth continue.  In order to help WISPs accomplish their objectives, they have repeatedly asked for more feedback from wireless operators on what type of guidelines the FCC should put in place and what WISPs might accomplish if they were allocated more public spectrum.  In fact, the FCC has also hinted that if they saw a rapid progression of operators using unlicensed bands to provide broadband access successfully, that they would certainly consider how to increase the amount of bandwidth needed to accommodate these operator's needs by allocating more spectrum to the unlicensed bands.  The FCC and Regulatory Issues Committee will be set up to establish a formal mode of communication from WISPs to the FCC and vice versa.

Managing frequency coordination and influencing lawmakers on how to write effective laws is very important.  In addition, there are many other business-oriented issues that the BWA committees will address for the industry such as Business Planning Assistance, Financial Assistance and Funding, and National Publicity for the Broadband Wireless Industry.  To see a full list of the BWA's working committees, please visit the organization's web site at http://www.bbwexchange.com/bwa.asp

The BWA strongly encourages everyone in the broadband wireless to sign up for a working committee that they would like to see succeed.  For those who are interested in joining the BWA or heading up one of the working committees outlined, please download a membership application at http://www.bbwexchange.com/legal/bwa_membership.asp.

Membership dues fund the Broadband Wireless Alliance.  There are several levels to choose from that are priced to make membership affordable for everyone.  Membership dues range from $10,000, for Cornerstone members that can afford to make sure the BWA is successful, to $50 for Advisory members that would like to be a part of the BWA, but need an entry level membership option to utilize the broad range for information that the association has on file.

About the Broadband Wireless Alliance (BWA)
      Founded in 2001, the BWA in a non-profit corporation that was founded to help individuals, groups and communities find the necessary information to research, plan, fund and build broadband wireless networks in areas without an attractive broadband alternative.  The BWA provides access to a valuable pool of resources that enables interested parties to seek out and build relationships with many industry groups and vendors that are involved in building high-speed wireless Internet networks.  The Broadband Wireless Alliance’s mission is to provide a resource for engineering expertise, business planning services and financial funding to existing or startup operators that desire to plan, launch and operate broadband wireless networks.  For more information on the BWA, please visit their website at http://www.bbwexchange.com/bwa.asp or call them at 480-218-4441.

 

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Contact:
Robert Hoskins
Broadband Wireless Alliance
Phone: 480-218-4441
Email: rhoskins@bbwexchange.com
Website: www.bbwexchange.com/bwa.asp