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Welcome to Let's Get Digital.

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I'm Keri Charles, your host.

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And today I have with me Patrick Halley.

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He is the president and chief executive officer of the Wireless Infrastructure
Association, also known as WIA.

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WIA represents over 140 companies that develop, build, and own and operate the nation's
wireless infrastructure.

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and is the leading authority on all things wireless.

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I have been connected to WIA for, my gosh, ever since I got in the industry for 10 years
now.

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And Patrick, thank you for coming on the show.

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I know it's your second time with us.

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Yeah, delighted to be here, Kerry.

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Always good to talk with you.

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Awesome, awesome.

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Well, let's just dig right in because we have a lot to talk about and you are sitting in
DC right now, right?

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I am the nation's capital busy time here in DC.

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I can imagine.

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I can imagine.

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So hopefully we'll get a little bit of the inside scoop today.

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Let's talk first about who is WIA and also the benefits of membership.

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Yeah.

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So as you said, we are represent the industry that builds, operates and maintains wireless
infrastructure.

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I like to say that if you're anywhere in the United States and you're connected to a
wireless network, there's a high likelihood that it's one of our members who is built,

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operated and maintained that infrastructure.

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Our mantra is connectivity everywhere, connecting every person, everything and every
organization everywhere.

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And frankly, it is the members of WIA from the carriers to the infrastructure companies to
the tower companies, smallest

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in building, the OEMs, you name it, and all of the companies in the services side that
support all of those other companies as well and make that connectivity everywhere vision

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possible.

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So your flagship event is Connectivity Expo can connect X and it's coming up soon.

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I have not missed one of these events for 10 years.

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It is the place to be.

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Can you talk a little bit about the event, the dates, the location, highlight the tracks,
maybe a few sessions or keynote speakers?

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Yeah, really excited about ConnectX this year.

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It's going to be in Chicago, quintessential American city, one of my favorite cities.

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We're really excited to get to Chicago.

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It's just a great city.

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It's a fun city, ton of telecom, you know, located there in Chicago.

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So it's a great host city.

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And, you know, it's going to be a great event.

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It's really the one event in the entire year that brings together the entire digital
infrastructure ecosystem.

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It's effectively an event version of our association.

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All the carriers.

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will be there.

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All the tower companies will be there.

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All of the services providers who are working on behalf of those companies will be there.

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Ericsson, know, Nokia, virtually any company in our space is going to be there.

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If you want to be there to make deals and do a lot of business development, you can do it.

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If you want to have fun, you can do it.

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If you want to network and learn, you can do it.

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If you can't find what you need at ConnectX, you're not looking hard enough because it
really does cater to, I think, every sector of the digital infrastructure ecosystem and

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really, frankly, all of

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different roles and responsibilities that people have.

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So really excited about it.

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May 12th through the 14th at the McCormick Center in Chicago.

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All three of the host hotels are directly connected to the convention center, so it's a
really great layout.

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We've got great keynote speakers.

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We'll have Lynn Cox from Verizon.

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We'll have Robert Walters who runs Network and Construction for AT &T.

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We'll have the CEOs and head of US Towers for the top five wireless care, top five tower
companies on the stage.

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And we'll have some other

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folks who are looking at some of the more cutting edge issues around mobile edge computing
and AI and all of those topics.

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We've decided this year to have slightly fewer tracks but really high quality content.

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So you're going to see five tracks, one on evolving infrastructure, one on strategic
finance, one on emerging technologies, one on connected spaces and building connectivity,

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and of course one on regulatory and policy issues.

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So we really have, I think, really great

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event planned for you and there's a ton of other events alongside all the educational
tracks and keynote speeches which I'm happy to walk through as well if you're interested.

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and some cool evening events.

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know that vendors and suppliers and members have parties and you have networking events.

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And again, this is the event not to miss.

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You absolutely can't miss it at this event.

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So how do you register and are there any, I guess, availability for exhibitors and
sponsors left over?

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Sure, all the information on sponsorship, registration, hotel information, all the events,
the program, the agenda, etc.

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It's all available at ConnectivityExpo.com.

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We do have a few slots left for sponsorship and exhibition and we'd love to have you at
the show.

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So all the information you need on all that is at ConnectivityExpo.com.

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You you mentioned some of the receptions and evening events.

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We really do have a lot in addition to the substantive content.

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whether it's all of our receptions, a golf tournament at Edwidge Valley Country Club, an
emerging wireless professionals happy hour, state broadband leaders summit if you want to

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get connected directly to some of the folks making decisions around bead funding for
example.

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We have a women in leadership symposium.

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We have an in-building connectivity summit.

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And we have a music movement concert which will feature recording artist Uncle Cracker and
my band Harmful Interference will be opening up at 7.30 on Tuesday night at the House of

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Blues.

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You really have just an immense amount of opportunity to do a lot of real work and have a
lot of fun.

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Yes, I couldn't agree more.

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So Patrick, talk a little bit about your, the three top policy items you're working on
with WIA right now.

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Happy to.

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At the top, you sort of asked what are the benefits of WIA?

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And I would really put it into four buckets.

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Bucket number one is advocacy, and I'll talk about that to answer your question.

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We have a top class team of advocates here in DC working before the FCC and Congress and
the Department of Commerce and other agencies, the FAA, federal lands agencies, et cetera.

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We also have a really strong team at the state level with people on the ground in 25
states.

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I don't know if people realize that, but we spend a lot of time working at the state
legislature.

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level, even local at times.

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Second is convening, right?

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That's the other benefit of WIA ConnectX and all the other events that we have and
different membership services initiatives that bring people together.

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The third thing I think about WIA that's why you want to be a member is our thought
leadership, our communications efforts, telling our industry story to policymakers and to

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the media.

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And then fourth, which we can talk about is workforce development, where we spend a fair
amount of time training the next generation of workforce in our for our industry.

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As far as advocacy and the

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top three policy or priorities that we have, I break it down like this.

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Number one is maintaining and strengthening a national permitting framework for our
industry.

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At the end of the day, all of our work, of course, when we're siding a new tower and we're
building new infrastructure happens at the local level, but it's critical that we have a

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real national framework that guides how that process works.

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Our mantra there is predictability, proportionality, and transparency.

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So we want to make sure that when you go to build a new site or co-locate on an

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site, that the rules of the road are clear, that you know what the process is going to be,
and that it's going to be an efficient and effective process.

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So we're working really hard to pass legislation to strengthen the existing rules in
Congress and at the same time with a little belt and suspenders working on legislation at

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the state level as well to make that predictability.

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So national framework on permitting number one.

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Number two, spectrum.

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We have spectrum right now, we're deploying it.

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There's still plenty of spectrum to be deployed, which is why I'm optimistic about our
industry this year and into the next couple of years.

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But at the end of the day, to meet the demands that are continually put on our networks by
consumers and enterprises, we need more commercial spectrum.

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So we're working with the carriers and CCIA and others on identifying more spectrum for
commercial use.

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And then the third issue would be federal spending, making sure that as we spend billions
and billions of dollars on broadband,

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that the government understands and supports spending that money on wireless, whether
that's fixed wireless to the home and business or mobile wireless in areas that are still

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unserved today.

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And so we're spending a lot of time working on all three of those issues.

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What are you hearing about BID funding?

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Yeah, BEAD funding for those who are following at home.

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BEAD is the federal $42.5 billion broadband connectivity program that was passed in the
prior administration.

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lot of questions, right?

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Is the Trump administration going to make major changes?

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they going to stop the program?

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Are going to make it more of a satellite program?

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And we've had a lot of conversations.

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We met with the acting head of the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, NTIA, a couple of weeks ago.

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We've written a letter to the Secretary of Commerce laying out what we think they should
do.

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Here's our view.

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BEAT is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

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We think we should make this program about infrastructure and jobs.

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Right.

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Let's focus on what the law is about.

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And that means investing a lot of money in last mile infrastructure to get people
connected at their home and when they're on the go via a mobile wireless connection.

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And then we think we should spend money on workforce development training programs to make
sure that we have the workforce to actually go and build those networks now but then also

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into into the future as they continue to be upgraded and operated.

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And so what do I think is going to happen.

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I think right now the current administration is reviewing

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the rules that were developed under the prior administration as is their prerogative.

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I think that they are

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going to make this program much more technology neutral and less of a fiber, really a
program that really put their thumb on the scale in favor of fiber.

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I still think the vast majority of the money is going to go to fiber.

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I think a lot of it's going to go to fixed wireless and I think some is going to go to
satellite.

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Maybe a little more to satellite than would have been the case under the prior
administration, but I don't think it's going to all of a sudden just fundamentally flip to

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be a satellite program.

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I still think it's going to be a program that invests first in fiber, also fixed wireless,
also

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satellite and they'll make changes right a lot of the priorities that the prior
administration had around preferences for union wages or union labor or you know diversity

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equity inclusion or other sort of things that are not directly related to infrastructure

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including potentially rate regulation of the services that were being deployed.

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I think all that goes away and we focus more on deployment and our hope is that this sort
of pause, if you will, as they look at the program is as quickly done as possible so that

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we can really just get this program moving.

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But I'm still optimistic it's going to be a big boom for our industry in the end.

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That's good to hear.

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How do you see tariffs affecting the telecom industry?

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Yes, I'm in Washington DC.

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All people are talking about are tariffs right now.

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Well, frankly, that's all anybody's talking about in lots of parts of the country.

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Look, the short answer is...

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It's difficult to say, right?

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Is this a near term negotiating strategy by the president to make a bunch of deals and
then the tariffs sort of come back down?

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Or are we gonna have higher tariffs like he's laid out for multiple years?

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And depends on who you are as to what you think the strategy is.

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What I can say are a couple things.

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Number one,

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Demand for wireless connectivity and broadband connectivity will never go away.

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If there are some services that potentially get impacted and people forego those services,
it's not gonna be your wireless phone.

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It's not gonna be your broadband connection at home.

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So I think our industry as a whole, when I say our industry, mean wireless, is generally
insulated compared to some other industries, which is a good thing.

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It's also, it's interesting.

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right, like the tower stocks over the last couple years have been underperforming the
broader stock market.

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That's not true right now.

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I think there's an appreciation for wireless infrastructure, given just the demand for it,
the need for it, the predictability of the business model.

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And so at least on the tower stock side in the market, you're seeing the values go up,
which is interesting.

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One thing we know though is with tariffs, if they remain, they will increase costs of
certain things.

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So they will increase the cost of inputs that physical infrastructure needs to be built.

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How much?

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Hard to say.

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We just actually put a survey out to our members to try to gauge what they think the
impact will be.

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When it comes to carriers, the inputs that go into devices...

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will increase the cost of new devices.

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If they're spending more money on devices, that's less capital they have for deployment.

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And so could it have an impact?

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It could.

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And I think that's something we're all trying to really understand and get our head
around.

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And one of the reasons we reached out to our members is we want to understand from where
you sit, how is it impacting you now?

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How could it impact you?

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So that when we go and have those conversations with policymakers in DC, we're educated
and we're letting folks know what the potential impact could be.

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So it's a long way of saying TBD, but it's certainly an important issue and something
we're tracking very closely.

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When you do those types of surveys, do you release that to the general public or is that
just internal with your membership?

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This is a pretty informal survey at this point, and it's more for our internal use to
understand what our own members are concerned about to help us formulate our own talking

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points and positions as we're talking to policymakers.

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But it's not to say that we couldn't potentially do something that's more public.

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that's fantastic.

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I mean, there's a lot of buzz in our industry.

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Gosh, there's buzz right now about satellite.

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And people are asking me, OK, is satellite going to take over?

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What about cell phone towers?

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Will they be obsolete?

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Should tower owners be worried about satellite?

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I don't think so.

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You're right, there is a lot of buzz.

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Compared to a year or even two years ago in DC, there's a lot of talk about satellite and
the capabilities of satellite broadband connectivity for last mile broadband to your home.

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You you're starting to see things like direct to device satellite to cell phone
connectivity.

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So it does raise questions and you're seeing TV commercials about it, right?

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And so the question is,

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you know, is it a replacement or is it a supplement?

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And the answer unequivocally is it's a supplement to terrestrial communications.

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It is not a replacement and nor will it be a replacement for your traditional terrestrial
infrastructure.

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We've actually talked to a lot of experts on this and the reality is it's incredible,
right?

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Like the fact that you can have a direct communication to your cell phone.

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from a satellite when you're hiking in Death Valley in California in the middle of nowhere
and be able to get a text message out, possibly even a voice call at some point, is

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amazing.

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But that is the limitation of the technology at this point on your cell phone for a
variety of reasons, from just physics to spectrum constraints to regulatory issues.

213
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is, the FCC calls it supplemental coverage from space.

214
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And that's what it is.

215
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It's a really important supplemental capability that adds to your existing network.

216
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But the idea that it's a cell phone, you know, in the sky, or sorry, a cell tower in the
sky, it's a misnomer.

217
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It's a new capability.

218
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It's really important, but it is not in any

219
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a replacement for terrestrial infrastructure.

220
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At the last mile, know, like Starlink, for example, that SpaceX offers, it's a pretty good
service, frankly.

221
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Actually, I've used it.

222
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And you can get pretty good broadband using Starlink.

223
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And Kuiper service, they're just about to start launching their first satellites, you'll
potentially in the coming year or so, you'll start to see maybe little competition even to

224
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Starlink.

225
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But even there, it's just limited by the number of people that can use it due to capacity,
the number of satellites.

226
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spectrum issues, etc.

227
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So my big picture answer on satellite is it's a really great technology, it's a really
good consumer benefit, but it is absolutely not a replacement for terrestrial

228
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infrastructure.

229
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So the in-building space seems to really be heating up.

230
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have a, gosh, I think in the last two weeks, our job requisitions have doubled in that
space.

231
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And so first of all, explain what the in-building space is and also what are you seeing
here?

232
00:16:48,764 --> 00:16:53,139
Yeah, that's going to be big focus at ConnectX too, going back to our discussion earlier.

233
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We launched an in-building forum last year to try to bring together in a convening of all
of our members.

234
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And we have a lot that are really focused on the in-building space.

235
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And from where I sit, in-building is...

236
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a really important aspect of the wireless infrastructure discussion.

237
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We spend a lot of times indoors.

238
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don't really have landline telephones anymore.

239
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So as a citizen and as just somebody who's using wireless networks every day, you want to
make sure that when you're inside of a building, you have strong connectivity.

240
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And so our members do a lot of that from the DASH systems that are built in the larger
venues.

241
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Increasingly, a lot of companies are looking at private wireless connectivity, private
LTE,

242
00:17:39,656 --> 00:17:47,381
private 5G and in most instances as a supplement to existing Wi-Fi coverage.

243
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In some cases a replacement.

244
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There are benefits to all these different technologies but you know private wireless is
typically viewed as more secure.

245
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It has coverage benefits.

246
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There are different use cases that maybe want to have that security and that service level
commitment that a private network can provide that a Wi-Fi network can't.

247
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And so across the entire economy as you look out

248
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this isn't just for large venues anymore.

249
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It's not just for manufacturing, although those are sort of the leading edge here.

250
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But we're starting to see an uptick in interest for private wireless networks and
in-building connectivity in hotels, in hospitals, on campuses.

251
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And so what we're focused on as an organization is really understanding and promoting the
benefits of in-building connectivity in all its forms, including the emerging use of

252
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private wireless networks out to

253
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all of those industries to make sure they understand the capabilities and why they should
be looking at private wireless as a solution.

254
00:18:44,223 --> 00:18:47,165
So look, I'm really bullish on in-building.

255
00:18:47,165 --> 00:18:51,427
I think over the next few years, it's really going to keep heating up and keep taking off.

256
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And we're going to do everything we can as an organization to promote the technology.

257
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Actually, including at the conference, not only do we have a connected spaces track,

258
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but we're having an in-building summit and one of the speakers is the head of telecom for
the 2028 Olympics in LA.

259
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And his job is basically to make all of these networks work together, whether you're for
the athletes, for the broadcasters who are there, for the hotels that people are staying

260
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in, for all the venues that are there, and just making sure that there's just a seamless,
really high quality wireless experience across the board.

261
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And that'll be really interesting to hear what he has to say about a project of that
magnitude.

262
00:19:31,350 --> 00:19:33,571
And that's it at ConnectX.

263
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Excellent.

264
00:19:35,494 --> 00:19:36,514
Okay.

265
00:19:37,135 --> 00:19:39,817
So WIA has a foundation.

266
00:19:39,817 --> 00:19:43,841
And it's interesting because I had, I just heard about that when I talked to you the other
day.

267
00:19:43,841 --> 00:19:45,462
Can you fill us in?

268
00:19:46,098 --> 00:19:46,739
Yeah, we do.

269
00:19:46,739 --> 00:19:48,983
have a non-profit 501c3 foundation.

270
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which exists to promote opportunities for our industry.

271
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And that's workforce development opportunities, raising awareness about careers in our
industries, and more broadly, just supporting worthy organizations that are directly

272
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relevant to the wireless infrastructure industry.

273
00:20:10,131 --> 00:20:15,993
And so we sort of reinvigorated our efforts in the last year or so.

274
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We elected some new board members to the foundation and we are active

275
00:20:21,476 --> 00:20:27,980
looking for worthy causes that our dollars can be used for to promote the best interest of
our industry.

276
00:20:28,381 --> 00:20:40,519
We had an event here in DC in, I guess it was last month in March, where we had Senator
Capito from West Virginia and Representative Lizzie Fletcher from Texas participate along

277
00:20:40,519 --> 00:20:44,311
with a panel of incredible women leaders in our industry.

278
00:20:44,311 --> 00:20:51,296
It was an event called the Wireless Women's Leadership Forum where we raised a significant
amount of money for the foundation.

279
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and we were pleased to make a donation of $150,000 to the wireless, to the WWLF Telecom
Trailblazers Initiative.

280
00:21:01,023 --> 00:21:08,908
Really excited about this initiative, really impressed with the ingenuity and innovation
of the WWLF board for taking this initiative on.

281
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And really it's directly in line with the foundation's mission.

282
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They are working with an organization that does outreach to high schools, specifically
looking to raise awareness about careers in our industry.

283
00:21:21,226 --> 00:21:27,880
as part of a broader effort on getting more girls to be interested and lean into STEM
careers.

284
00:21:28,081 --> 00:21:32,790
And so they've done events in DC, in Chicago, in San Francisco.

285
00:21:32,790 --> 00:21:34,725
They're planning another one in LA.

286
00:21:35,626 --> 00:21:47,393
And what they do is they bring together these students with industry leaders and they
explain how wireless actually works and explain all the different jobs and careers in our

287
00:21:47,393 --> 00:21:50,996
industry that are out there available to these young women.

288
00:21:51,108 --> 00:21:52,709
if they're interested in pursuing it.

289
00:21:52,709 --> 00:22:01,784
And it's part of a broader effort at WIA in general and that the foundation is supporting
to just try to raise awareness about the career opportunities in our industries at an even

290
00:22:01,784 --> 00:22:02,655
younger age.

291
00:22:02,655 --> 00:22:08,377
So people are going into our sector because they know about it, because they want a career
in our industry, not by accident.

292
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:18,349
And one plug, the website there if you're interested more about the foundation, how you
can donate, or to let us know about a worthy cause that we should be looking at is

293
00:22:18,349 --> 00:22:20,621
foundation.wia.org.

294
00:22:21,838 --> 00:22:24,578
So I want to talk briefly about WWLF.

295
00:22:24,578 --> 00:22:27,698
So it's the Women's Wireless Leadership Forum.

296
00:22:27,798 --> 00:22:29,918
And that is part of WIA.

297
00:22:29,918 --> 00:22:32,838
I've been on the board for many years.

298
00:22:32,858 --> 00:22:34,498
Amazing organization.

299
00:22:34,498 --> 00:22:45,558
So any woman, no matter if you're new in the industry, you want to get into the industry,
you're a veteran in the industry, then you need to be a member of WWLF.

300
00:22:45,558 --> 00:22:48,338
And huge support by WIA.

301
00:22:49,082 --> 00:22:53,710
We do just great things in the industry, not just events, but education, mentorship.

302
00:22:53,710 --> 00:22:54,892
mean, the list goes on and on.

303
00:22:54,892 --> 00:23:00,692
So Patrick, thank you for supporting WWLF and everything that we're doing there.

304
00:23:00,882 --> 00:23:09,756
Yeah, I'm incredibly proud of the work that WWLF does and we're so excited to continue to
support that organization.

305
00:23:09,756 --> 00:23:11,114
It's really important effort.

306
00:23:11,114 --> 00:23:13,058
It is, it sure is.

307
00:23:13,301 --> 00:23:18,113
How is WIA making an impact with workforce development?

308
00:23:18,814 --> 00:23:19,134
you

309
00:23:19,134 --> 00:23:20,164
Yeah, it's one of our pillars.

310
00:23:20,164 --> 00:23:28,038
You know, we have a whole staff of folks here in the office whose job is nothing but
workforce development, and it's really threefold.

311
00:23:28,038 --> 00:23:30,119
One is through registered apprenticeship.

312
00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:38,103
So our telecommunications industry registered apprenticeship program or TIRAP, we have 109
companies participating at this point.

313
00:23:38,103 --> 00:23:47,627
We've had about 6000 apprentices go through our program and we are the national sponsor
for the Department of Labor for telecommunications registered apprenticeship.

314
00:23:47,807 --> 00:23:49,140
And it's it's really

315
00:23:49,140 --> 00:23:49,920
effective.

316
00:23:49,920 --> 00:24:00,870
You know I had a chance to go out and visit Congruix, one of the companies who is very
active in registered apprenticeship in Salt Lake last year and just talking to them about

317
00:24:00,870 --> 00:24:06,834
the challenges they have in recruiting workers and even more so retaining them, right?

318
00:24:06,834 --> 00:24:15,161
And so when you go through an apprenticeship program it's a really nice combination of
hands-on training with somebody who already has a job, they've been hired by a firm,

319
00:24:15,161 --> 00:24:19,004
hands-on training with a mentor combined with classroom training and you come out of it
with

320
00:24:19,004 --> 00:24:23,527
certificate and we've got 15 different occupations at this point that are part of Tyrap.

321
00:24:23,527 --> 00:24:33,433
Everything from Tower Tech 1, Tower Tech 2, Tower Forman, RF Engineer, Fiber Splicer,
Aerial Underground Utility Installer, Last Mile, In-Building, you name it.

322
00:24:33,574 --> 00:24:37,436
And so we are really proud of that work on registered apprenticeship.

323
00:24:38,157 --> 00:24:43,841
It works nicely with our own training and education content through our telecommunications
and education center.

324
00:24:43,841 --> 00:24:49,244
A lot of that work, it's working directly with our member companies to help train their
staff.

325
00:24:49,284 --> 00:24:58,631
But it's also increasingly we're doing a lot of partnerships with higher ed, two-year
schools, four-year schools, technical colleges, helping some of them set up their own

326
00:24:58,631 --> 00:25:08,787
pre-apprenticeship programs, but also literally providing our content and then helping
them offer that content as part of certificate programs to people who maybe didn't even

327
00:25:08,787 --> 00:25:09,938
know about our industry.

328
00:25:09,938 --> 00:25:12,029
And then they learn about it and they come out with a certificate.

329
00:25:12,029 --> 00:25:19,164
And so now you're getting an educated student who also has very specific knowledge about
the wireless industry and the wireless infrastructure industry.

330
00:25:19,285 --> 00:25:28,496
And we're doing a lot of work as well, just working with leaders at the state level to try
to be an intermediary between industry, academia, and government.

331
00:25:28,496 --> 00:25:35,434
Just really trying to raise awareness first and foremost about what our industry is and
what it enables on the careers.

332
00:25:35,434 --> 00:25:36,845
It's not just jobs.

333
00:25:36,848 --> 00:25:38,181
It's careers.

334
00:25:38,181 --> 00:25:41,826
I don't know how many CEOs of companies I've met who started as tower climbers.

335
00:25:42,027 --> 00:25:43,289
It's incredible.

336
00:25:43,289 --> 00:25:47,316
And so for us, it's just telling the story and then actually providing that hands-on
training.

337
00:25:47,316 --> 00:25:50,040
And it's a really important element of what we do.

338
00:25:50,466 --> 00:25:53,664
Did you go to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona?

339
00:25:54,332 --> 00:25:56,585
I did, I was there again this year.

340
00:25:56,585 --> 00:25:58,267
It's an incredible conference.

341
00:25:58,267 --> 00:25:59,749
Makes ConnectX looks tiny.

342
00:25:59,749 --> 00:26:01,450
There's like 100,000 people.

343
00:26:01,811 --> 00:26:03,273
And it's overwhelming.

344
00:26:03,273 --> 00:26:04,221
What's that?

345
00:26:04,221 --> 00:26:04,812
did you hear?

346
00:26:04,812 --> 00:26:07,548
What were some takeaways?

347
00:26:07,548 --> 00:26:09,721
guess what was everyone talking about?

348
00:26:10,526 --> 00:26:13,286
I mean, not surprisingly, AI.

349
00:26:13,776 --> 00:26:16,787
I mean, every single booth was talking about AI.

350
00:26:17,148 --> 00:26:18,208
And for good reason.

351
00:26:18,208 --> 00:26:19,719
mean, it's an incredible technology.

352
00:26:19,719 --> 00:26:25,451
There's no doubt it has had and will have an impact on, frankly, every sector, including
ours.

353
00:26:25,792 --> 00:26:30,854
And so there was a lot of buzz around AI and what the impact will be for carrier
operations.

354
00:26:30,854 --> 00:26:41,219
And then also the applications and different use cases that will be made possible because
of AI and therefore what the demand is on our network.

355
00:26:41,339 --> 00:26:43,720
And to be honest, I think there's a lot of

356
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,802
of opinions about what that is and what it will be and we'll see.

357
00:26:46,802 --> 00:26:48,123
We'll see soon, frankly.

358
00:26:48,123 --> 00:26:49,544
We're already seeing it.

359
00:26:49,864 --> 00:26:53,266
But there's also a bunch of stuff that's going to happen that we don't know about yet.

360
00:26:53,266 --> 00:26:55,068
This is always the case with wireless.

361
00:26:55,068 --> 00:27:04,353
So AI, definitely a lot of talk about private wireless, back to our prior discussion and
in-building connectivity and the growth and opportunities around private wireless.

362
00:27:04,554 --> 00:27:12,320
Continued discussion on OpenRAN as there often is and OpenAI, AI-RAN for example.

363
00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:13,600
A lot of buzzwords as is

364
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:14,441
always the case.

365
00:27:14,441 --> 00:27:21,786
What I always come away with from that conference is not so much any one thing.

366
00:27:21,786 --> 00:27:33,253
It's just a massive amount of global research and development and innovation and
investment that goes on across the world, all of which comes back to the US at some point,

367
00:27:33,253 --> 00:27:39,517
including a lot of American leadership, around an industry that is just constantly
evolving.

368
00:27:40,282 --> 00:27:45,570
On Wednesday I'm actually going up to Bell Labs in New Jersey for the 100th anniversary of
Bell Labs.

369
00:27:45,651 --> 00:27:52,784
And I've been there before and what's amazing about that place is they really talk about
all the innovations that's come out of it.

370
00:27:52,784 --> 00:27:54,485
And if you just think about...

371
00:27:55,056 --> 00:28:03,703
where that started a hundred years ago and where we are now talking about satellites
providing connectivity directly to a cell phone in the middle of Death Valley you gotta be

372
00:28:03,703 --> 00:28:13,840
kidding me you know and people sometimes use the word future proof some technologies are
more future proof than other and I think it's just the silliest word in the world because

373
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:21,826
if you had gone into Bell Labs a hundred years ago or fifty years ago or ten years ago and
said that what they were working on then was future proof you'd look like a fool today

374
00:28:21,894 --> 00:28:29,769
And that's what I always take from Mobile World Congress is just that constant level of
innovation and curiosity that's driving forward.

375
00:28:29,769 --> 00:28:35,842
And there's no industry more innovative and forward looking than ours, and it's an
exciting place to be.

376
00:28:36,206 --> 00:28:38,538
It sure is, and ever evolving is right.

377
00:28:38,538 --> 00:28:46,052
I'm just curious, Patrick, and we have another minute or so left, what drives you?

378
00:28:46,653 --> 00:28:49,460
Tell me why it makes you jump out of bed every morning.

379
00:28:49,460 --> 00:28:53,638
What do you absolutely love about what you're doing in the industry?

380
00:28:54,378 --> 00:29:01,862
You know what it is, in addition to just being able to lead a great team on a personal
level, for me that's personally satisfying, right?

381
00:29:01,862 --> 00:29:12,707
Working with the 31 employees here at WIA and we just had our monthly staff meeting today
and we're constantly talking about the importance of our industry and what we can do to

382
00:29:12,707 --> 00:29:14,668
make our members' lives easier.

383
00:29:14,668 --> 00:29:22,191
And so just that, the satisfaction of working with an incredible team on behalf of
incredible member companies, that's enough to drive me.

384
00:29:22,191 --> 00:29:24,192
On top of all that, it's the record

385
00:29:24,192 --> 00:29:32,935
recognition of, know, when we're having discussions around our event or this policy or
that policy or the impact of tariffs, those are all important things we have to worry

386
00:29:32,935 --> 00:29:33,775
about.

387
00:29:35,096 --> 00:29:41,318
But at the end of the day, our industry is, I think, the most important industry in the
entire world.

388
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:47,532
nothing happens in America without wireless connectivity and without broadband more
broadly, right?

389
00:29:47,532 --> 00:29:53,914
Literally everything we do from education to healthcare to economic development to
business, it's all about connectivity.

390
00:29:53,914 --> 00:29:57,136
And so I get to represent an industry that makes that possible.

391
00:29:57,136 --> 00:29:58,316
How cool is that?

392
00:29:58,316 --> 00:29:58,696
Right?

393
00:29:58,696 --> 00:30:00,477
It doesn't really get any better.

394
00:30:00,777 --> 00:30:03,938
In fact, I recently had an opportunity to

395
00:30:04,668 --> 00:30:12,754
listening to some live 911 calls at a 911 center here in Northern Virginia and 90 % of
them are from a wireless phone.

396
00:30:12,754 --> 00:30:20,841
You know, I was just at a local zoning board hearing because I like to see how the sausage
is made and see what we talk about in action at the local level.

397
00:30:20,841 --> 00:30:28,767
And one of the people that were really pushing for the siting of a new tower was a woman
who's the mother of a 15 year old son.

398
00:30:28,767 --> 00:30:30,130
She's a first responder.

399
00:30:30,130 --> 00:30:32,011
Her husband is a first responder.

400
00:30:32,011 --> 00:30:36,315
And their point was we need this tower because without it, 911 calls don't get made.

401
00:30:36,474 --> 00:30:37,716
911 calls get dropped.

402
00:30:37,716 --> 00:30:39,598
There's no coverage in this valley.

403
00:30:39,838 --> 00:30:43,520
and we make it so that that's not true.

404
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:50,344
So when we're talking about being able to stream movies and do all kinds of crazy stuff
with AI, that's all really well and good.

405
00:30:50,344 --> 00:30:54,046
But at the end of the day, we also just provide that comfort and that safety.

406
00:30:54,046 --> 00:31:00,910
And so those are plenty of reasons for me to be really excited about my job and
representing this industry.

407
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:02,172
said Patrick.

408
00:31:02,172 --> 00:31:04,005
Let's talk about ConnectX one more time.

409
00:31:04,005 --> 00:31:07,250
Also how to reach WIA, the website.

410
00:31:07,250 --> 00:31:11,086
Yeah, just talk about contact information at this point.

411
00:31:11,086 --> 00:31:20,382
wia.org, can provide all the info, you can learn all about the advocacy we're doing and
all the different initiatives that we have, as well as our events, including ConnectX,

412
00:31:20,382 --> 00:31:25,655
which is connectivityexpo.com, May 12th through the 14th in Chicago.

413
00:31:25,796 --> 00:31:29,772
It's gonna be the best connectivity event of the year, and we look forward to seeing
everybody there.

414
00:31:29,772 --> 00:31:31,663
It sure is, and I will be there.

415
00:31:31,663 --> 00:31:34,003
Patrick, thank you for coming on the show again.

416
00:31:34,003 --> 00:31:37,507
I always love to talk to you I get inspired, so it's great.

417
00:31:38,668 --> 00:31:39,708
Take care.