BroadbandBreakfast.com Hosts Broadband Breakfast Club Event ‘The Wired Home and Wireless Policy’ Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 in Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 – The internet policy news and events service BroadbandBreakfast.com will hold its January 2012 Broadband Breakfast Club event

‘The Wired Home and Wireless Policy‘ on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at Clyde’s of Gallery Place, 707 7th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001 from 8 am – 10 am.

American and Continental breakfasts are included. The program begins shortly after 8:30 a.m. Tickets to the event are $45.00 plus a small online fee.

Registration is available at http://broadbandbreakfast.eventbrite.com

The Broadband Breakfast Club is sponsored by Comcast, Google, ICF International (ICFI), Intel, The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and US Telecom.

The Broadband Breakfast Club series meets on the third Tuesday of each month (except for August and December).

The Broadband Breakfast Club schedule can be viewed at http://broadbandbreakfastseries.eventbrite.com

Read our website for broadband news and event write-ups http://www.broadbandbreakfast.com

Videos of our previous events are available at: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/category/broadband-tv/

January 2012 Broadband Breakfast Club Event Description

Convergence in electronic devices has accelerated. Televisions, telephones and computers are all digital devices sharing content. How can the nation’s wireless policies better advance connected homes?

This provocative session will be moderated by Drew Clark, Chairman and Publisher of BroadbandBreakfast.com and feature keynote speaker Rick Kaplan, Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and top executives of major telecom groups: Grant Seiffert, President of Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), Walter J. McCormick, President & CEO of USTelecom and Fred B. Campbell, President & CEO of the Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI). Mr. Kaplan will also stay for the panel discussion.

These experts will consider the issue of broadband adoption for consumers, particularly in the home.

On the heel of the Consumer Electronics Show, part of the discussion will be about devices, from the Droids to the iPhones to the laptops to the televisions. The other part of the discussion will be about the networks — both wired and wireless — and how high-capacity networks feed an ecosystem that enables more powerful uses for a range of consumer-friendly applications.

The session aims to stitch together both the “wired home” and the “wireless policy” discussions on broadband. For example, we will consider both licensed and unlicensed radio frequencies for mobile-friendly devices, as well as high-capacity uses (e.g. health care and video conferencing), for landlines and for wireless broadband.

Keynote Speaker:

Rick Kaplan, Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Federal Communications Commission

Rick Kaplan assumed his position at the FCC in June 2011. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Kaplan served as Chief Counsel to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, where he managed the Commission’s overall agenda, was responsible for policy coordination among the Bureaus and Offices, advised the Chairman on wireless, engineering and technology, and public safety issues. Before joining the Chairman’s staff, Mr. Kaplan was the Chief of Staff and Media Legal Advisor for Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, and served as deputy coordinator of the FCC DTV task force, where he oversaw a number of aspects of the Commission’s role in the nation’s successful transition to digital television. He practiced regulatory law and appellate litigation at Sidley Austin LLP, and served in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Kaplan began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Prior to his legal career, Mr. Kaplan founded and operated a sports management and public relations agency that represented and served professional athletes and sports-related organizations.

Panelists:

Walter B. McCormick, Jr.
President & CEO
USTelecom

Walter B. McCormick, Jr., is the President & CEO of USTelecom, the nation’s premier telecommunications industry trade association, representing broadband service providers, manufacturers and suppliers in the new world of Internet-based communications and entertainment. A respected Washington veteran with more than 25 year’s experience in telecommunications, Mr. McCormick joined USTelecom in 2001 and has led the organization’s growth into one of the top trade associations in the nation’s capital. Washingtonian magazine has profiled Mr. McCormick as a trade association executive with “real clout.” The Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, has featured Mr. McCormick as a “Hill Mover of the Month” and labeled him as a “rainmaker” – one of the “top trade association lobbyists” in Washington. He has been recognized by Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Law. Prior to joining USTelecom, Mr. McCormick served as President & CEO of the American Trucking Associations. There he led a broad corporate restructuring that resulted in record dues revenues, increased stature for the industry, and significant legislative victories. His background also includes service as a member of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee; as General Counsel of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Transportation; and as a partner with Bryan Cave LLP – an international law firm of more than 500 lawyers, where he headed the practice group on Regulatory Affairs, Public Policy and Legislation. During his tenure on the professional staff of the U.S. Senate, he was recognized by Roll Call magazine as one of the 50 most influential staffers on Capitol Hill. Mr. McCormick holds degrees in journalism and law from the University of Missouri. He has studied international economics and political science at Georgetown University, and has completed the program for senior managers in government at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Rockhurst University, the Federal Communications Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar and the Missouri Bar.

Grant Seiffert
President
Telecommunications Industry Association

As President of TIA, Grant Seiffert oversees the policy, standards, tradeshow and marketing efforts for the leading advocate in Washington, D.C., for the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. TIA’s member companies represent the entire supply chain of the ICT industry; these companies manufacture products, provide services and offer applications that transmit content by video, voice and data, thereby merging communications and entertainment options. As leaders in the industry, the companies and organizations participating in TIA develop and deliver communications innovations for consumers, government users and businesses alike, while improving productivity and access to information around the world. Seiffert joined TIA in 1996 as director of government relations. His main priority was the representation of the equipment industry’s interests, particularly regarding competitive issues during implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He was promoted to vice president in 1998, directing domestic and global policy to help the association’s supplier members gain marketing opportunities around the world. In that role, he oversaw policy, including interaction with the U.S. Congress, the FCC and the Administration, as well as with international regulatory bodies and government leaders and fulfilling the senior management role for association membership and TIA tradeshows. He succeeded Matt Flanigan as president of TIA in January 2007. Prior to joining TIA, Seiffert served five years with Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.). Seiffert serves on the Executive Committee of Connected Nation, the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) CEO Advisory Committee, the Board of Directors of the Sustainable Technology Environments Program (STEP) and the Board of the National Science & Technology Education Partnership (NSTEP). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Radford University.

Fred Campbell
President & CEO
Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI)

Fred Campbell has been President and CEO of the WCAI since August 2008. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Nebraska College of Law where he teaches spectrum law and policy. Mr. Campbell previously served as Wireless Bureau Chief at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2006-2008. In that position he developed and implemented the 700 MHz auction, the largest and most successful auction in the history of the FCC, and many other innovative wireless broadband policies, including open platform requirements, anonymous and combinatorial bidding in spectrum auctions, a power spectral density approach to power limits, non-exclusive licensing using a contention-based protocol in the 3.65 GHz band, the classification of wireless broadband as an information service, and a revised initial spectrum aggregation screen. Prior to heading the Wireless Bureau, Mr. Campbell spent two years as Wireless Legal Advisor to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. Before joining the FCC, Campbell was an attorney with the law firm of Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis, where he advised on a broad range of legal issues associated with the provision of domestic and international telecommunications services. Campbell previously practiced commercial litigation with the law firm of Wolfe Snowden and clerked for Justice William M. Connolly of the Nebraska Supreme Court. He earned his B.A. from the State University of New York and his J.D., with high distinction, from the University of Nebraska College of Law.

Additional speakers have been invited

Moderator:

Drew Clark
Chairman & Publisher
BroadbandBreakfast.com

Drew Clark has a long-standing reputation for fairness and depth in his reporting. He worked for the National Journal Group for eight years, ran the telecommunications and media ownership project of the Center for Public Integrity, and was Assistant Director of the Information Economy Project at George Mason University. He has written widely on the politics of telecom, media and technology for a variety of publications, including the Washington Post, GigaOm, Slate, and Ars Technica. Drew launched BroadbandCensus.com, BroadbandBreakfast.com’s parent, in January 2008 as a means of providing objective information about broadband speeds, prices, availability, reliability and competition.

For More Information Contact:

Sylvia Syracuse
Director of Marketing and Events
BroadbandBreakfast.com
Sylvia@broadbandcensus.com
646-262-4630