Suggestions
Chad Sokolosky
CEO @ GC WIRELESS, LLC
Chad Sokolosky is the Chief Executive Officer of GC WIRELESS, LLC, a company that specializes in providing flexible wireless solutions tailored for progressive enterprise technology and telecommunications firms. Under his leadership, GC WIRELESS focuses on advancing communication infrastructure, including initiatives in cell tower construction and fiber optic deployment in various states, such as Texas and Florida.135
Sokolosky has a background that reflects a commitment to community and professional development. He has shared insights about his upbringing in Cherokee Nation housing, emphasizing the profound impact it had on his life and career.2 His professional endeavors also include advocating for telecommunications professionals to support tribal nations in securing vital spectrum resources.4
For more detailed information about his professional journey and contributions, you can view his LinkedIn profile at Chad Sokolosky's LinkedIn .1
Highlights
The FCC is Running Out of Time for a Spectrum “Win,” by Lawrence J. Spiwak
Lawrence J. #JessicaRosenworcel #FCC
Spectrum is the lifeblood of the commercial wireless industry. Today, spectrum is incredibly scarce as most of the available spectrum is already allocated for assorted uses. With spectrum in short supply yet in high demand by telecommunications operators, federal policy must focus on identifying bands that can be used more efficiently; this is especially the case as new technologies come to market that increase demand for additional spectrum and technological advancements are made that enable more efficient sharing of spectrum.
Given the competing interests of the commercial wireless sector (both licensed and unlicensed use) and the government’s own spectrum needs, finding spectrum that can be made available for additional uses can be a difficult task. While the Trump Administration was able to bring a significant amount of new spectrum online, for several reasons the spectrum pipeline has dried up over the last three-and-a half years: Congress has yet to re-authorize the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) auction authority, the Administration’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s 2024 National Spectrum Strategy Implementation Plan turned out to be a big nothing-burger; and the FCC has been preoccupied with pushing politically-motivated policies (e.g., aggressive digital discrimination rules and the reimposition of common carrier regulation of the internet). With the clock rapidly ticking on President Biden’s term, the opportunities for a spectrum “win” for the Commission appear slim.
There are some real opportunities. Perhaps the Biden Administration’s last and best chance for a spectrum win is to update the FCC’s rules for the lower 12 GHz band (12.2 – 12.7 GHz) to authorize the use of high-powered two-way fixed broadband service in the band The lower 12 GHz band is a contiguous 500 MHz band of coveted mid-band spectrum primarily used by DBS satellite. With commercial spectrum in short supply, in January 2021 (just prior to the start of the Biden Administration), the FCC began to consider With demand for fixed wireless service continuing to grow and advancements being made in technology to mitigate harmful interference, a prime opportunity is pending before the FCC for the lower 12 GHz band to be put to more efficient use. DirectTV has argued that updating the lower 12 GHz band to allow for this band to be used for high-powered two-way fixed wireless service would cause “harmful interference” to its DBS operations—a claim that is unwarranted, especially since DirecTV hardly uses the 12 GHz band anymore and the licensees seeking higher-power are agreeing to operate any fixed wireless services within the protection levels already on the books.
What should the FCC do?
Unleashing sharing opportunities in the lower 12 GHz band would be an easy win for FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel.
FCC SHOULD ACT NOW ON LOWER 12 GHZ BAND TO HELP CLOSE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AND ADVANCE U.S. WIRELESS LEADERSHIP
It has been over 500 days since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lost spectrum auction authority. With only a handful of legislative weeks remaining this year, the prospects for its renewal before 2025 appear rather bleak. The 12.2 – 12.7 GHz band (the lower 12 GHz band) offers a unique opportunity to unlock 500 MHz of spectrum without waiting for Congress to finally reauthorize the Commission’s lapsed authority. This opportunity is one that is too important to pass up and one that the Commission should seize upon.
The inaction on spectrum auction authority is especially vexing given the importance of spectrum allocations for advancing U.S. competitiveness globally and for enabling the deployment of new technologies, such as fixed wireless service—which has proven to be a valuable tool for helping to facilitate broadband access and injecting competition in certain markets.
Having served as an FCC Commissioner, I understand the agency’s limited options to make more spectrum available absent Congressional action on auction authority. Despite this challenge, there is a prime opportunity before the Commission in the pending lower 12 GHz proceeding that would enable more efficient use of spectrum even while Congress works to restore auction authority. The Commission should not wait to act on this proceeding and should move to adopt final rules to authorize the use of high-power two-way, fixed wireless service in the band. The Commission had already been long overdue in updating its nearly two-decade-old rules for the lower 12 GHz band, but the Congressional standstill on auction authority makes this need even more pressing.
Updating the lower 12 GHz rules would enable increased deployment of fixed wireless service, fostering greater connectivity across the country, especially in rural and tribal areas. This would come at a key time as states will soon start implementing their federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program funding allocations, with some states allowing for this funding to be used for fixed wireless deployments.
The lower 12 GHz band — which has different circumstances and is at a different stage of discussions than upper 12 GHz band — is ready for deployment, with no federal incumbents and few license holders, most of whom strongly support expanding flexible use. A robust record has been established before the Commission demonstrating that any potential harmful interference can be mitigated or managed as necessary. Similarly, lower 12 GHz flexible use proponents agree its use would not interfere with upper 12 GHz services. The band can and should be shared.
Given current constraints within spectrum policy, the lower 12 GHz band represents a real option and perhaps the only way to bring forward additional capacity for fixed wireless services in the near term. FCC should take advantage.
People also viewed
Related People
Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.