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COMPETITIVE CARRIERS ASSOCIATION

America's leading association for competitive wireless providers and stakeholders since 1992.
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We are wireless.

Joining together to improve the lives of Americans through delivery of wireless communications.

Now is a critical time for competitive carriers.

Advocacy
We're the only voice for competitive carriers on Capitol Hill. 
Networking
CCA members are always willing to lend an ear and share new ideas.
Education
There won't be a quiz at the end, but if there were one, you'd pass.
Membership
Is CCA membership the right choice for you? Yes, here's why.
About CCA

Membership has its benefits.

CCA is committed to being the premier advocate for competitive wireless carriers throughout the United States and the international community. We make certain that our members’ voices and views are heard in Washington, DC. Our entire purpose is to assure our members thrive and that no government policy stands between competitive carriers and their ability to serve their customers. Our members have a shared interest in the restoration of a competitive marketplace in which every carrier has the opportunity to compete and thrive. CCA’s overarching goal is to create an ecosystem in which competitive carriers can grow.
Member Benefits At-A-Glance
✓ Discounts to CCA Events
✓ Unmatched networking opportunities
✓ Participation in CCA's industry development programs
✓ Alerts on issues & industry actions
✓ Access to a strong advocacy platform
Learn More About Membership

CCA News

12 Mar, 2024
WASHINGTON – CTIA and Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) today released a new joint report highlighting the important role that regional wireless operators play in serving communities across the country. The report shows how continued support for regional wireless operators is critical to closing the digital divide, ensuring a thriving and competitive wireless marketplace and supporting local economic development. “CCA’s members are doing the important work of bringing wireless service to the parts of the country that need connectivity most,” said CCA President & CEO, Tim Donovan. “America’s rural communities typically have smaller population bases scattered across challenging terrain and sometimes extreme climates. This requires federal, state, and local governments to play a key role in removing barriers and regulatory burdens, supporting service through properly targeted subsidy programs like the 5G Fund, finishing the job with Rip-and-Replace and making sure that regional providers can access the spectrum resources needed to continue to provide high-quality wireless service to their customers.” “I’m so proud of our regional operators’ efforts to connect rural America and close the digital divide,” said CTIA President & CEO, Meredith Attwell Baker. “It’s not an easy task to provide robust wireless coverage across small communities with complicated topography. And it’s definitely harder without a pipeline of full-power spectrum that can travel across rural terrain from tower to tower. Reauthorizing the FCC’s spectrum auction authority with a defined pipeline of full-power, licensed spectrum is essential to allow regional operators to deploy 5G networks and provide local communities with the connectivity they need to support local job and economic growth.” The new report, “Regional Wireless Providers: Closing the Digital Divide & Growing Digital Economies Across the U.S.” tells the story of seven wireless providers serving regions across the country, including tribal nations and historically underserved rural communities. The report shows how regional providers play a key role in offering high-quality mobile services, and in some cases, wireless home broadband, in some of the most remote areas of the country. As their stories demonstrate, the wireless service they provide is often the only connectivity option available to the populations they serve, the lowest cost or the most efficient to deploy. Thanks to these operators, local communities are able to support local business, connect education institutions and hospital systems and attract industry and investment. The report also highlights some of the challenges these providers face and the role that government policy plays. With a limited customer base spread over difficult, hard-to-reach areas, regional wireless providers rely on key government initiatives, such as the FCC’s 5G Fund or the Affordable Connectivity Program to create the necessary economic conditions to support network expansion. Regional providers also need more full-power spectrum and meaningful opportunities to acquire it to be able to deliver service over wide areas—a critical challenge in rural America. Wireless providers showcased in the report include Appalachian Wireless of eastern Kentucky and western Virginia; Carolina West Wireless in northwestern North Carolina; Cellcom located in northeastern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan; Cellular One which serves the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni and White Mountain Apache tribal nations as well as many rural communities throughout northern Arizona and New Mexico and southern Utah; GCI which serves Alaska; Southern Linc which offers wireless service to utilities, emergency response teams and related businesses and agencies in Alabama, Georgia and southeastern Mississippi; and Union Telephone Company in Wyoming, parts of Utah, Idaho, Montana and Colorado.  ### About CTIA CTIA® (www.ctia.org) represents the U.S. wireless communications industry and the companies throughout the mobile ecosystem that enable Americans to lead a 21st century connected life. The association’s members include wireless carriers, device manufacturers, suppliers as well as apps and content companies. CTIA vigorously advocates at all levels of government for policies that foster continued wireless innovation and investment. The association also coordinates the industry’s voluntary best practices, hosts educational events that promote the wireless industry and co-produces the industry’s leading wireless tradeshow. CTIA was founded in 1984 and is based in Washington, D.C. About Competitive Carriers Association Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) is the leading association for competitive wireless providers and stakeholders across the United States. Members range from small, rural carriers serving fewer than 5,000 customers to regional and nationwide providers serving millions of customers, as well as vendors and suppliers that provide products and services throughout the wireless communications ecosystem.
08 Mar, 2024
Statement by CCA President & CEO Tim Donovan on Anniversary of FCC Spectrum Auction Authority Lapse
06 Mar, 2024
Washington, D.C. – Competitive Carriers Association President and CEO Tim Donovan made the following statement regarding a letter sent to Congressional leadership urging Congress to immediately and fully fund the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Program (Program): “Congress created the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Program to fund the removal of equipment found to pose a national security risk from U.S. networks and its replacement with trusted alternatives. So far, Congress has provided less than 40% of the approved funding needed to fulfill this national security mandate. The situation is dire. Due to the lack of full funding, many Program participants, especially in Western states, are forced to decide where to remove covered equipment but not replace it, eliminating service available today both to their own subscribers as well as millions of Americans that roam onto their networks for connectivity, including 9-1-1 and emergency services. The Program cannot succeed until Congress funds the $3.08 billion shortfall. Congress must immediately prioritize this national security emergency and fully fund the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.” The letter was sent to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The letter was also shared with leadership of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. The letter contains examples of real-world impacts if full funding is not provided by Congress, including: A Program participant will be forced to reduce its coverage area by over 67% (over 31,000 square miles) in Arizona and nearly 64% (over 26,000 square miles) in Nevada. The impacted areas include key military and national security installations. That same carrier would have a nearly 90% reduction in service in Utah. A Program participant in New Mexico will lose 70.2% of its current coverage area (over 19,000 square miles) leaving customers unserved absent immediate funding. A Program participant in Colorado will be forced to reduce its coverage area by 73.8% (13,766 square miles) absent full funding. A Program participant that serves the Navajo Nation will likely reduce coverage in that area by 20-40%, in certain areas eliminating the only service available to communities highly dependent on the Affordable Connectivity Program. A Program participant covering 122,000 square miles in the Rocky Mountains is deciding what portions of its network to terminate because of the funding failure. Absent additional funding, its coverage area will be reduced by over 70,000 square miles, eliminating the only coverage roamers have available. This coverage area includes 40 military installations, 32 of which are in areas that will not retain service without full funding, including a strategic missile base. Absent full funding, only 91 healthcare facilities out of 456 will remain covered, and only 415 schools or other educational facilities out of 1,897 will be able to retain coverage. Over half of this provider’s approximately 40,000 subscribers will be affected, as well as the 13-14 million roamers that use the network each year. A link to the letter can be found here . ### About Competitive Carriers Association Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) is the leading association for competitive wireless providers and stakeholders across the United States. Members range from small, rural carriers serving fewer than 5,000 customers to regional and nationwide providers serving millions of customers, as well as vendors and suppliers that provide products and services throughout the wireless communications ecosystem.
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