This piece was originally published in the 2015 Super Mobility Week Official Show Daily.

The President and CEO of Bluegrass Cellular since 1991, Ron Smith comes to the CTIA Chairman post with a unique perspective. Over the past year, he has guided the Wireless Association’s board through a host of important issues at a time when smaller carriers have needed a voice at the top. Wireless Week caught up with Smith prior to Super Mobility Week to get his thoughts on everything from the new rules for the upcoming incentive auction to competition in rural areas. 

Wireless Week: As President and CEO of a regional carrier, do you feel the FCC is doing enough to facilitate rural broadband and wireless deployments?

Ron Smith: My experience has been that, while surely in need of reform, universal service funding over the past decade has been a tremendous resource in facilitating wireless deployments. Where and when it was available to us, as a regional carrier, we were able to provide service to customers that would never have been served without that support.  

We recently decided to sell spectrum that we originally used to build out a rural wireless broadband network outside our home geographic area. That decision was prompted by our realization that the capital requirements, needed to provide quality of service that would meet customer expectations, far exceeded any reasonable business case given the regulatory build-out requirements of those licenses.   

If we had entered the markets by initially building a good customer base in one location and had been allowed to organically grow the network there might have been a chance to build an economically viable case to serve additional no-service or underserved broadband areas.  

Our challenge is to educate and gain acceptance within both the FCC and in Congress that there is still a need to partner with carriers to reach the most underserved rural areas of America.

WW: What did you think of the recently approved Incentive Auction rules as they relate to smaller carriers?

Smith: I have deep concerns about participating in the Incentive Auction. Yes, its great to possibly qualify for a Designated Entity discount and, yes, its great that there will be a reserve for “smaller carriers”; however, lessons learned from the last 700 MHz auction still apply – it might be great “beach front with condos” spectrum, but if you don’t have a viable business ecosystem to use it in, it’s a waste of money.

The industry has become four technology and business ecosystem silos driven by the 700 MHz LTE bands. While interoperability will be required under the 600 MHz licenses, the business reality is that unless those silos are interoperable the economic use of the new spectrum is limited.

The challenge to carriers of my size is to insure before the auction occurs that any potential spectrum purchase will be usable with either our current or potential roaming partners.

WW: Do you feel the reserve is large enough?

Smith: Again, a contrarian view, if you define “small carriers’ to include two nationwide carriers, or companies like DISH, Google, Amazon, or a host of large cap companies, the outlook for a truly small regional carrier to acquire a license is dim.  That’s not a complaint, just an observation of the realities of the market.

WW: Do consumers in the United States, especially those in rural areas, have enough choices for wireless service?

Smith: I think “enough” is like “fair”; the individual who makes the choice can only define the term. I am proud that our small regional carrier that serves only forty counties but provides nationwide services to that population base has competed and thrived over the past twenty-five years.  

I am glad that our unique brand of services and our “hometown” level of customer support has been available as a solid alternative when a customer makes a choice for wireless service. I wish that there were more rural areas where a carrier like ourselves was available as a choice.

WW: Is the United States doing enough to support research into “5G” technologies and standards?

Smith: I am particularly proud of the efforts of Meredith and CTIA in recognizing the need to for the United States to continue to lead in 4G deployment and the facilitation of the development of “5G” technologies and standards.  

Case in point, Tom Sawanobori, the CTO of CTIA, has organized a CTO roundtable on Wednesday that will bring together some of the senior technology executives of all four nationwide carriers to share their perspectives on what it will take for the U.S. to continue to lead from 4G to 5G.  

Global competition will drive policy in “5G”, however, given the extraordinary growth of 4G these past five years I believe 4G capacity concerns will drive the U.S. to 5G as fast as technically and logistically feasible.

WW: Can you share with our readers some small insight you might have gained during your term as Chairman of CTIA’s board?

Smith: It has been truly an honor to serve as Chairman of CTIA’s board this year.  It’s been a privilege to serve as a CTIA board member for most of the past twenty-three years. I have observed and participated in many significant industry changes with a “seat at the table”.  

What I have gained this year is an enormous respect for those industry leaders that have put aside their competitive differences to work together on the extraordinary challenges that face the industry as a whole.  

Dan Mead, my predecessor as CTIA Chairman, set a high bar in overseeing the transition of CEOs from Steve to Meredith. It has been a blessing to watch from the “front seats” Meredith mold CTIA in her vision. The CTIA staffs are dedicated professionals and it has been a privilege to assist them in meeting their challenges and in developing their plans for the future.