The Competitive Carriers Association’s Annual Convention is right around the corner and this year’s conference promises to leave attendees with practical, usable knowledge they can apply on the job, CCA President and CEO Steven K. Berry said.
According to Berry, this year’s conference will be held for the first time in Seattle, Wash., and will include a number of social networking events such as a group trip to see the Mariners baseball team play and a wine tasting.
But the event will also include insights from several industry heavy hitters – including FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, FCC Commissoners Ajit Pai and Mignon Clyburn, T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray and executives from Ericsson, Sprint, U.S. Cellular, Huawei, C Spire, Nokia and more – who will provide more than a few “gold nuggets” of information for attendees, Berry said.
“It’s all about learning from your colleagues, that’s been a tradition at CCA for a long time,” Berry said.
Rather than focusing on lofty discussions of 5G, spectrum and policy issues, Berry said the panel sessions, keynotes and other formats will get down to the nitty gritty to provide attendees with information they can actually use in practice.
“I think what our members want to hear is practical common sense business practices to ensure you mature your network from 4g LTE and VoLTE to 5G,” Berry said. “I think we’re going to see all the hype and discussion on 5G but the focus here will be practical solutions and recommendations for sound network planning so you can get to that next generation and afford to get there and still operate.”
“We’re also going to talk about spectrum frontiers – what do you do with high band spectrum, what type of spectrum do you need to deliver an efficient wireless product to consumers,” he continued. “I think we’re going to have a lot of good educational sessions. Every panel should produce one good gold nugget a small carrier can take back home and implement.”
Berry said he expects the convention will also address the elephant in the room: the current U.S. presidential election. According to Berry, the discussion will tackle what Washington, DC will look like for telecommunications players not only under a new presidential administration but also under new FCC and congressional leadership.
Berry said the convention will also play host to CCA’s annual general and board meetings. Winners of CCA’s Annual Achievement Awards will also be named at the show, he said.
The event will also feature an exhibit hall with a “number of innovative new members sharing the show floor,” Berry said.
CCA 2016 will be held Sept. 20-22 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. The keynote sessions will be live streamed from the event, Berry said.
