Tuesday’s Keynotes from Matt Haven’s Hilarious “Stop Acting your Age” had the over 1500 members laughing out loud while Wednesday’s Informative Keynote on “Plans for Survival” by Gino Villarini and Mike Melusky from AeroNet and Broadband IV had the audience listening intently on preparation pointers and lessons learned after the disaster.

Master Monday’s in-depth three-hour sessions gave members advanced training and sponsored certifications. Subject matter experts, moderators and industry operators took part in more than 97 jam packed business and technical sessions covering subjects relating to the rural ISP’s operator challenges, industry innovation, customer support and effectively running or starting a WISP.  Discussions on CBRS, G5, drones, VOIP, marketing, customer support and finance filled the three-day agenda. The week ended on a high note with Fiber Friday sessions imparting knowledge from equipment manufacturers, consultants and suppliers providing or deploying fiber to the home (FTTH) in addition to wireless.

The Hot Topics of the Show

Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS) was the hot topic with the looming October vote surrounding the probable changes to the current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rulings on the CBRS spectrum band (3550-3700). A vote that will overturn the current 2015 decision favoring instead, the larger mobile wireless carriers.  Standing room only sessions also attended were on new technology for drones and whole-home security adoption.

The Largest Event Set New Records

Wispalooza’s 2018 was the largest association event to date. A collaboration of more than 2200 member, 43 Sponsors and 163 exhibitors promoting wireless, cloud, software, VOIP/IPPBX solutions, tower, drone, consulting and mapping solutions from the leading industry suppliers and resources in the fixed and mobile wireless industry.

At WISPA’s Annual Awards Ceremony, trophies were presented to: 

• Joink, for Operator of the Year;
• Cambium Networks, for Manufacturer of the Year;
• IgniteNet, for Product of the Year;
• Ubiquiti Networks, for Service of the Year;  
• Baltic Networks, for Distributor of the Year;
• Aeronet, the Triumph Award for overcoming adversity;
• Scott Reed, for Volunteer of the Year; and
• Tasos Alexiou, for the Visionary Award.

About WISPA

WISPA’s Membership association, hosts the biannual Wispalooza and Wispalooza America’s Events. 2018 events saw an overwhelming 20% increase across the board for attendance, exhibitors and sessions; a credit to show leadership. WISPA’s members are key to building, servicing, supplying and offering services in the under-served areas of the USA reaching from the heart of the WISPA organization. Wispalooza America will be located in Ohio this coming March 2019 and Wispalooza will be back in Las Vegas at the Rio next October. Raising funds and industry awareness at these industry specific shows invites the collaboration and cooperation of the over 800 member companies spanning 50 states with the support of WISPA’s advocacy, education and collaborative industry initiatives. For more information about WISPA, visit www.wispa.org 

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