Welcome to PR Vibes, created by Calysto Communications to provide you with insight into the publications, thought leaders and events in the communications industry. Today, we visit with Steven K. Berry, president and CEO of the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA), the Washington, D.C. – based advocacy organization.
September of 2014 will be the first time that two fall shows important to the mobile ecosystem – CCA’s Annual Convention and the CTIA show — will take place during the same week in Las Vegas. In this interview, Berry shares perspective about CCA’s 2014 events, including what to expect at this year’s fall Convention during Super Mobility Week. Enjoy!
CCA 2014 Annual Convention, September 7-10, Las Vegas Cosmopolitan.
CTIA 2014™ Super Mobility Show, September 9 – 11, Las Vegas Sands Expo and Convention Center.
Wow. September in Las Vegas looks to be busy! How will CCA’s event co-locate with the CTIA Super Mobility Show?
We are excited about CCA’s Annual Convention coming up in September, and are looking forward to kicking-off Super Mobility Week!
Our fall convention is our largest event and we look at this as an opportunity to set the tone for Super Mobility Week, as competitive carriers find ways to continue their innovative delivery of services, as well as provide a forum for policy discussions. Competitive policy issues have always been the glue that has held CCA together as a policy advocacy entity in Washington, DC, and our events are an opportunity for others to join us.
We’re especially excited about the additional benefit our attendees will enjoy in the fall. The purchase of a CCA registration badge includes access into the CTIA exhibit hall, keynotes and any non-paid events at CTIA; it’s a “buy one, get one free,” so to speak. The benefit does not work the other way around, so we’re spreading the word about the benefit to registering for CCA’s event. There will also be complimentary shuttle services between the Cosmopolitan and Sands Expo, where both events will be held
What’s unique about the CCA fall show?
One thing that distinguishes our show is the large percentage of carriers that attend. We have more than 100 wireless carriers in North America as members, including two of the smallest Tier 1s – Sprint and T-Mobile — and we’ve had more than 80 percent come to our shows, which is phenomenal. We focus on carriers’ problems, and the vendors and suppliers with solutions for carriers, not just the retail consumer-facing activities and products.
I always tell our board of directors, “There are two things I ask from you at our events. Number one, show up and come to the board meetings. Number two, go to the floor!” Our entire board of directors will drop in on the show floor to visit with attendees and to thank the participants for being there, which also is pretty unique.
What can first time attendees expect?
Our executive board and our membership have repeatedly said, “We want a show that our executive vice presidents and our decision-makers can attend and get their business done all in one place.”
At the CCA show, as I mentioned, you’re going to see CEOs and our board members, the C-level decision makers from these wireless carriers, walking around the floor talking to the people that are most likely providing solutions to wireless carriers. You’re going to see them in the breakout sessions. You’re going to see them in the panel discussions and the breakfasts and the lunches.
We try to do as much as we can on the show floor, which I think is the unique nature of our show. There is a desire to have more intimate conversations and networking opportunities in a much more convenient, comfortable fashion. We have lunch on the floor, and we have hors d’oeuvres and drinks in the afternoon – all in the exhibit hall.
We also invite everyone who is registered to come to our after-hours parties, and that doesn’t happen at most other shows. At our Convention this fall, we kick-off the Sunday before the show with one of the largest golf tournaments of any telecom group. We want to grow our events, but we don’t want to get so large that you don’t see your friends and acquaintances. You’ll have an opportunity to meet new people and talk to the chief executive officer, as well as the engineers. You won’t see 40,000 of your closest friends – you’ll see several thousand old friends and hopefully make some new ones.
What issues do you foresee everyone talking about?
As the trade media always says, “You’ll get a heavy, high quality dose of policy conversation and discussion at the CCA show!” The competitive carriers have very open conversations about policy choices that the FCC and Congress and the White House should take, and these may be different from what the largest carriers in the United States suggest. Obviously, this year everyone is going to try to make it to the 4G/LTE experience, but we will also have many policy issues that will play a very significant role.
The 600 MHz broadcast incentive auction. This auction will take place in the second quarter of 2015 and is going to be on everybody’s mind. Every one of the carriers will be trying to figure out what they can bid on. Therefore, especially during our spring show, there’s going to be a heavy focus on what the FCC’s rules and eligibility criteria for the incentive auction will be.
Spectrum harmonization. There’s going to be a lot of what I call spectrum harmonization/spectrum rationalization, such as the T-Mobile proposal to buy Verizon’s 700 MHz A Block spectrum licenses.
700 MHz interoperability. Last year, we were successful in restoring interoperability to the Lower 700 MHz, literally over the objection of AT&T. We worked with FCC Chairwoman Clyburn, and she rolled up her sleeves and found an industry solution to interoperability. With the assurance of interoperability, many of our smaller carriers can now move to deploy LTE in this spectrum, unleashing the more than $2 billion in investment that was sitting on the sidelines because they couldn’t get devices that operated on it, this will certainly be a topic of interest at our show.
What about smaller carriers outside of the U.S.?
Smaller carriers throughout the world experience some of the same difficulties and the same problems as our members. For example, how do you transition from a 2.5G to 3G to 4G technology while keeping your customers and having devices that operate on your network? That’s not a particularly easy thing to do.
Your company may be so small that you only have one or two engineers on your staff, not an entire department of 150 to 200 engineers, which can make finding consultants and software providers challenging. Companies like Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent have their Tier 1 teams, as well as their Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams, so there will be people from the largest companies that have a unique capability and mindset to solve problems for smaller carriers. This is a different type of service that we’ll be providing. We want people to come to our show and experience it and hopefully, they will enjoy what they see and stay with us through our other events.
CCA also has a spring event. What’s on this agenda?
Our spring show, CCA’s Global Expo, will be held in San Antonio from March 25 to 28 this year. It’s a smaller show, and while there is a full exhibit floor, we encourage a more intimate atmosphere. We have more breakout sessions and more educational opportunities. I don’t want to say it’s more technical, but we do try to burrow more into our educational tracks – technical, business and marketing. We also try to get specific on the policy issues.
We do a community service event as part of our spring event too, which is pretty special. This year in San Antonio, we will be refurbishing part of a city-owned park – doing various activities like painting, mulching, planting, etc. It’s our give-back program and it also allows our members to get together with one another informally. We charge every participant a small fee and the entire amount is donated to the charity.
Any closing thoughts?
Between now and the fall, and especially in September, you are going to have some of the most significant policy decisions on the table that have been before the wireless industry in more than a decade. You’ll see some significant differences of opinion on the policy side. As always, we hope to use our show as a platform for discussion and as a launching pad for policy and opinion efforts to change the thought process of the FCC and Congress. This, I believe, is a significantly different quality of our show. We welcome others to join us.