Monday, October 24, 2011

WCAI Kicks Off Spectrum Summit, Meetings at 4G World


WCAI kicked off its program at 4G World in Chicago today with a closed-door 2.5 GHz Operator Meeting. The meeting brought together representatives from over a dozen 2.5 GHz licensees for a lively roundtable discussion of some of the most pressing issues, including operational challenges, equipment availability, what works in marketing and social media, spectrum protection, bandwidth management strategies, white spaces, regulatory challenges and much more.

Still ahead is the WCAI Spectrum Summit scheduled to begin at 1 pm CT in Room S-404D at McCormick Place. The Summit will explore the implementation of the Obama Administration’s plans to free up 500 MHz of spectrum, expand mobile access, increase the amount of unlicensed spectrum, build a nationwide public safety network, and deploy smart grid. Panel discussions will cover such topics as broadcast incentive auctions, national public safety network deployment, rebanding 2 GHz for mobile broadband, spectrum bands suitable for smart grid and government deployment, and options and opportunities for meeting spectrum capacity needs for fixed networks and networks operating in rural areas. The Summit will bring together representatives from the FCC, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, Sempra Energy Utilities, FiberTower, Alvarion, SpeedConnect, BeamSpeed, Enforta (Russia), KeyOn Communications, JAB Wireless and other key industry players.

Last but not least, WCAI will hold an Awards Ceremony at its annual Networking Dinner tomorrow, Oct. 25 at Smith & Wollensky, a classic Chicago steakhouse.