Commissioner Simington Addresses WISPAMERICA 2023

While I think that fixed wireless technology can efficiently serve all communities, this is especially true for rural communities, because fixed wireless is high-speed, reliable, and perhaps most importantly, can be deployed quickly. Rural America needs access to high-speed and reliable technologies today, not years from now, in order to remain competitive in our nation’s economy. Despite the important role fixed wireless has played in achieving this goal, our policymakers have failed to realize the true potential of fixed wireless and other wireless technologies, among them satellite, and have, in doing so, disadvantaged wireless technology providers’ ability to compete in the marketplace by gaining access to the funds available in government programs aimed at serving rural America. I fully agree with WISPA’s recent statements about the lack of technological neutrality in the BEAD program. The definitions adopted by NTIA have, unfortunately, stacked the deck in favor of fiber deployments—in places where fiber will likely take years to build-out, if it’s even possible, whether because of the difficulties presented by the terrain in specific areas, the lack of infrastructure for supporting fiber, or competition for limited fiber supplies from more densely populated markets. We must reconsider this approach if we wish for rural America to keep pace with the rest of the US and the US with the rest of the world.