On this week’s carrier wrap we speak with CCA CEO Steve Berry on the trade organization’s MCS show and upcoming agenda, and with Ericsson on 5G, IoT and NFV
This week’s Carrier Wrap comes from the recent Competitive Carriers Association Mobile Carriers Show, where RCR Wireless News Editor-in-Chief Dan Meyer spoke with CCA CEO and President Steve Berry and Glenn Laxdal, CTO for Ericsson North America.
Berry provided insight into the trade organizations thoughts on the recently begun 600 MHz incentive auction process, which CCA worked aggressively in leading up to the proceedings on lobbying for rules favorable to its carrier members. Berry said he expects the reverse auction part of the proceedings would likely wrap up in the next couple of weeks, with the Federal Communications Commission then commencing the more traditional forward auction portion sometime in late May.
Berry also touted CCA’s upcoming Annual Convention, which is scheduled for September in Seattle. The event will be more focused on traditional CCA activity and topics, with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler currently scheduled to speak and expected deep participation from CCA’s largest carrier member T-Mobile US.
Laxdal provided a concise template for how CCA members should approach the oncoming move towards network changes. Laxdal said carriers should begin with a robust LTE network base; followed by moves towards virtualized platforms using SDN and NFV in a move to reduce the cost of spinning up new services, which can include “Internet of Things” applications; and finally bring all of those together towards plans for 5G technology, which Laxdal said could be sometime after the 2020 time frame for many CCA members.
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