CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On Thursday, November 1, 2018, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman, Ajit Pai, announced GeoLinks’ CEO Skyler Ditchfield’s appointment to the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group.
As stated in the FCC’s formal news release, The Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group is tasked with recommending measures to improve the resiliency of broadband infrastructure before disasters occur, as well as actions that can be taken to more quickly restore broadband infrastructure following a disaster. The Chairman has also charged the working group with developing best practices for coordination among wireless providers, backhaul providers, and power companies during and after a disaster.
“Broadband communications have become essential to the delivery of life-saving information in a disaster,” Chairman Pai said. “It’s critical to public safety that our broadband networks are as resilient as possible to prevent outages in a disaster and also can be restored as quickly as possible when an outage occurs.”
Led by Chair Red Grasso, FirstNet State Point of Contact for the North Carolina Department of Information Technology, and Vice-Chair Jonathan Adelstein, President & Chief Executive Officer of the Wireless Infrastructure Association, Ditchfield is the only California-based representative, and the only fixed wireless broadband provider in the group.
“I am both honored and excited to be part of this working group,” said GeoLinks’ co-founder and CEO Skyler Ditchfield. “Throughout the past few fire seasons in California, my team and I have gained extensive experience in recovering from and restoring connectivity during natural disasters. During the Thomas Fire, for example, we were able to re-establish services in less than 24 hours, whereas many terrestrial providers remained down for months. From solar and wind powered towers, to backup generators, we also have significant expertise in utilizing alternative power methods, technologies that become critical during catastrophic weather events. Locally, I am actively working on a large-scale, state-wide project that will utilize a multitude of technologies, including mobile relay stations, to create true network resilience, ultimately preserving connectivity during disasters. Every region and every disaster in our country has its own subset of challenges. I am confident our Working Group can not only improve the resiliency of broadband infrastructure before disasters occur nationally, but also ensure that connectivity is both maintained and restored as quickly as possible.”
While the first formal meeting of the group has not been publicly announced, a complete list of members is available at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-18-1121A1.docx.
For media inquiries or interview requests, please contact Lexie Smith at LSmith@geolinks.com.
About GeoLinks
Headquartered in Southern California, GeoLinks is a leading telecommunications company and competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) public utility, nationally recognized for its innovative Internet and Digital Voice solutions. Ranked first in category on Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in America in both 2017 and 2018, GeoLinks delivers Enterprise-Grade Internet, Digital Voice, SD-WAN, Cloud On-ramping, Layer 2 Transport, and both Public and Private Turnkey Network Construction expertly tailored for businesses and Anchor Institutions nationwide.
GeoLinks’ accelerated success is largely due to its flagship product, ClearFiber™, which offers dedicated business-class Internet with unlimited bandwidth, true network redundancy, and guaranteed speeds reaching up to 10 Gbps. Named “Most Disruptive Technology”in the 2018 Central Coast Innovation Awards, GeoLinks’ ClearFiber™ network is backed by a carrier-grade Service Level Agreement boasting 99.999% uptime and 24/7 in-house customer support. With an average installation period of 4 to 7 days, GeoLinks is proud to offer the most resilient and scalable fixed wireless network on the market.
