From: Dale Curtis Sent: Friday, October 20, 2017 12:24 PM To: Mark Radabaugh ; Ken Hohhof via Members Subject: Re: [WISPA Members] Update on CBRS Proceedings
Hello everybody – Dale Curtis here, and I’ll try to be brief: a.. Yes, please, if you receive any calls from the news media about any policy subject, please let us know, and please let us assist you. We can field the requests for you, and/or provide talking points, background materials, etc. The more we speak with one unified voice, the better. a.. Ken, thank you for the specific reporter suggestions, and everyone, please send any reporter suggestions you may have. We maintain a list of about 60 reporters in the tech and telecom trades, the DC policy/politics trades, the telecom/broadband reporters at national and regional outlets, etc. We have been pitching them a lot recently, and that will continue. a.. Personalized letters to government officials on your business letterhead do have an impact. And the more, the better. Form letters don’t have as much impact individually, but in mass numbers, they do have an effect. WISPA will be providing guidance and sample language for you; do keep an eye on your email inbox and the WISPA Twitter feed. a.. Side note: I am looking for “charismatic customers,” meaning unique or appealing customers of yours with an interesting story of how they didn’t have good broadband before, and you saved the day for them. Even better if CBRS spectrum is how you intend to serve them, but any stories are welcome. Schools, native communities, celebrities or “big names,” wineries, remote resorts, anything with “local color.” Just send me a few sentences on any such stories you might have, and we may use them in our future PR activities. We will not contact your customers without coordinating with you. To be continued! Thanks and salutes, Dale Curtis, d...@dalecurtiscommunications.com, 202-495-3700 From: Mark Radabaugh [mailto:m...@amplex.net] Sent: Friday, October 20, 2017 11:11 AM To: Ken Hohhof via Members <memb...@wispa.org> Cc: Dale Curtis <d...@dalecurtiscommunications.com> Subject: Re: [WISPA Members] Update on CBRS Proceedings We will have a ‘one-pager’ (that is really two pages) ready shortly that we will make available. Dale Curtis: Dale Curtis (d...@dalecurtiscommunications.com) (202) 495-3700 1901 L Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 Is our communication advisor and is extremely helpful when talking with the media. Please feel free to forward media inquiries to Dale (or any of the WISPA board members) and we can either field the request for you or work with you on an appropriate response if you want to speak with the press yourself. Dale is a very good coach and can help you through what can sometimes be a minefield in dealing with the press. I still make him cringe on a regular bases - but I’m working on it :-) To your other point - WISPA has been very successful with the DC press over the last couple of weeks. I expect that we will see a major story in Politico on Monday based on a conversation we had yesterday with a reporter, and I will pass along your other suggestions on media outlets to Dale and see what he can set up. Thanks, Mark Mark Radabaugh WISPA FCC Committee Chair fcc_ch...@wispa.org 419-261-5996 On Oct 20, 2017, at 10:53 AM, Ken Hohhof <khoh...@kwom.com> wrote: All our comments of course are public and Google-able. And a Google search is what passes for journalism these days. There are about a dozen usual suspects that will mine the filings looking for something to write about. Some have a default anti-ISP bias. Some have a pro-telco bias. Some are maybe even neutral. Would it make sense for someone at WISPA to reach out to these folks over the next few weeks and present our “spin” on the NPRM and our comments? I’m not sure the Broadband Reports / Techdirt guy can be won over, but Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica has written some articles favorable to WISPs even though normally he bashes ISPs. I don’t know about the telco and cellco trade publications. Maybe if these guys understand where we’re coming from, that we’re not trying to be evil, and that we’re actually little guys trying to avoid being screwed over by the evil big guys, they would either leave our comments alone or even write something nice about them. I’m not sure if FCC commissioners (or their staff) read all our comments when there are hundreds, or if they just tally up how many pro and con. And I’m not sure if the pay attention to what journalists and blogs write about the comments. I’m just thinking if one article sums up our hundreds of comments in a favorable or unfavorable light, that might influence them. The other thing is, we should all be prepared for “journalists” to call or email us about what we file. I know I was called about my comments on Net Neutrality and wasn’t prepared with how to answer questions from a journalist on the topic. Anymore I tell them to call WISPA, because I’m not really the person you want talking to the press. But maybe we need to be prepared with some talking points for anticipated follow-up questions. From: members-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:members-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Chuck Hogg Sent: Friday, October 20, 2017 9:25 AM To: memb...@wispa.org Subject: Re: [WISPA Members] Update on CBRS Proceedings Hi Ken: Many thanks for your suggestions. In addition to your ideas, during the Board Meeting yesterday, we discussed how we are going to move forward to increase participation. We are currently in the process of outlining and designing an application to form the appropriate response. This way a WISP can go to a form, fill out the information, the application will generate a tailored response based on the WISP submissions, and then WISPA can submit the information on behalf of the operator to the FCC. I agree some type of postcard or letter informing everyone would also help as well. Regards, Chuck On Fri, Oct 20, 2017 at 10:14 AM, Ken Garnett <kgarn...@cal.net> wrote: The low participation rate in the prior call for letters to the FCC on this CBRS issue is really disconcerting. We need to do a better job of outreach next time. I was at the CBRS Round Table on Thursday afternoon at WISPAPALOOZA, where we discussed how best to keep everyone in the loop on this. The idea of a CBRS-specific e-mail list was suggested. The problem with that is it’s just more e-mail noise. Due to the existential importance of this to the future of our industry, may I suggest an old-school communications approach for WISPA’s initial post-NPRM-adoption solicitation: · Send letters. On real paper with a letterhead, with a WISPA logo on the envelope. Using the U.S. Postal Service. People don’t ignore real mail, as many are inclined to do with e-mail. For something this important the one-time postage cost for ~600 principal members is minuscule in comparison. · Take this opportunity for a WISPA-sponsored membership drive. Hire someone to locate the ~5,000 (or whatever) non-member WISPs around the country. Send them real letters through the mail, explaining the situation, urging action, and enlightening them on the benefits of WISPA membership. Grass-roots outreach to non-member WISPs is a fine idea, but it’s not sufficiently comprehensive. - Ken Garnett Chief Technology Officer Cal.Net 530-672-1078, x103 From: members-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:members-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Jimmy Carr Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2017 12:34 PM To: w...@wispa.org; memb...@wispa.org Subject: [WISPA Members] Update on CBRS Proceedings Fellow Members, As you know, the FCC is considering a proposal, backed by the mobile industry, to make significant changes to the rules for the CBRS band (3.55-3.7 GHz). Among the proposals are changing the geographic areas for priority access licenses from census tracts to much larger areas called “Partial Economic Areas”, and increasing license terms from 3 to 10 years. The WISPA DC team has a robust strategy and is pulling out all the stops in this David-vs-Goliath battle. As this process unfolds, we will be calling on all of you to help us communicate with the FCC and with your members of Congress. Please be on the lookout for important communications and calls to action over this critical issue for the future of our industry. If you know of other WISPs who aren’t yet WISPA members, reach out to them and encourage them to join. We are leading this fight on behalf of the entire fixed wireless community, our voice is stronger when we have more members, and this is no time for others to freeload on WISPA’s efforts. I hope you will take the time to read the article that is attached to this email. It demonstrate many aspects of our DC strategy coming together and some of our core messaging. This is from the publication that people like FCC Commissioners and their staff read every day. I expect that Steve Coran will soon be distributing a copy of the filing summarizing our meeting yesterday with one of the FCC Commissioners. Again, there is a good deal of traffic on our lists — please keep an eye out for important communications about this important issue. There will be a good number of them in the next month. -Jimmy Carr Chairman, WISPA Legislative Committee _______________________________________________ Members mailing list memb...@wispa.org http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/members _______________________________________________ Members mailing list memb...@wispa.org http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/members -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Members mailing list memb...@wispa.org http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/members
