Removing the Roadblock to Gigabit Wi-Fi: How the 5.9 GHz Band is Key to America’s 5G Future

As the world relies on Wi-Fi now more than ever, our connections are increasingly tested while valuable spectrum sits unused. The FCC has put forward a win-win solution that would allow Wi-Fi and new vehicle safety systems to coexist. What’s the holdup?

A discussion on how the FCC can open up the 5.9 GHz spectrum and remove the roadblock to a Wi-Fi superhighway.

Speakers

Michael Calabrese

Director, Wireless Future Project @New America 's Open Technology Institute

Michael Calabrese is director of the Wireless Future Project, which is part of New America’s Open Technology Institute. He also serves as a senior research fellow affiliated with the Asset Building Program. Calabrese focuses on developing policies that promote pervasive connectivity, including spectrum policy reform, mobile market competition, wireless broadband deployment, and IT investment and innovation more broadly.

Amir Nasr

Policy Analyst @New America’s Open Technology Institute

Amir Nasr is a policy analyst at New America’s Open Technology Institute, where he works with the Open Internet team and the Wireless Future Project. Before joining OTI, Nasr was a technology reporter for Morning Consult, where he covered regulatory and legislative movement on telecommunications, spectrum, cybersecurity, surveillance, and privacy policy in Congress and at the Federal Communications Commission. At Morning Consult, he followed topics such as the legal battle over the FCC’s 2015 net neutrality rules, the agency’s spectrum auction, broadband privacy, as well as the move to update the Lifeline program to include broadband. He previously interned at CBS This Morning and BBC World News America, where he aided in production and coverage.

Ellen Satterwhite

Vice President @Glen Echo Group

As Vice President at Glen Echo Group, Ellen Satterwhite helps clients formulate policy positions and tell their stories with good one-liners backed by solid data. As a co-author of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, Consumer Policy Advisor to the Commission and freelance consultant, her work has been written about in Huffington Post, AllThingsD, CNet, Geekwire, GigaOm and CivSource. Previously, Ellen served as Program Director for Gig.U, supporting communities seeking gigabit speeds. Satterwhite earned a Master’s in Public Affairs from UT Austin and a BA from Grinnell College. She believes brevity is the soul of wit and someone should tell that to YouTube commenters.