Join Alejandro Piñero from the Fierce Network team as he interviews Walter Cannon, head of Connected Communities at Boldyn Networks, at Broadband Nation Expo. In this insightful discussion, Walter shares Boldyn’s evolution from Broadcast Australia International (BAI) into a major player in the digital infrastructure landscape. Discover how Boldyn Networks serves diverse communities across the U.S. with advanced connectivity solutions, from urban centers to military bases, stadiums, and higher education campuses.
Walter provides a behind-the-scenes look into Boldyn’s approach to bridging the digital divide by focusing on both urban and rural needs. He explains the challenges and solutions in deploying fiber and fixed wireless technologies, tackling issues like deployment costs and the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) effect. Walter dives into the potential of innovative spectrum solutions like CBRS, Wi-Fi and 5G to drive digital growth and secure private networks.
This conversation sheds light on the unique role Boldyn plays in enabling essential digital access and security for educational institutions, government services, and healthcare. Get an insider’s view on how Boldyn Networks aims to close the digital divide, empower communities, and shape the future of connectivity.
Alejandro Piñero:
Well done everyone. You made it post lunch. I think it's always a tough spot to have, so Walter is a brave soul to sit here with me. I'm Alejandro Piñero from the Fierce Network team, and I'm joined by Walter.
Walter, do you want to give a brief introduction?
Walter Cannon:
Hi, I can't see everyone. Hi, I'm Walter Cannon. I'm with Boldyn Networks. I have a responsibility for what's called our Connected Communities group, as well as Government Affairs.
Alejandro Piñero:
Excellent. Well, I think I remember getting all the press releases about all the rebranding that Boldyn went through about a year ago, I want to say, but just to make sure we're all on the same level, if you could give us a bit of background there and how we ended up with Boldyn Networks as a new brand.
Walter Cannon:
Yeah, so a company called BAI, Broadcast Australia International, started investing in digital infrastructure with their first purchase being one of our sister companies called Transit Wireless, and then Mobility. And then they ended up buying almost, I believe it's eight companies that we've put together over the last 10 years, and all of them growing to where we're over 1100 employees with offices from Hong Kong to Irvine California, or call it LA, with a huge presence in the US, dealing with providing network infrastructure, wireless network infrastructure. I like to call it digital because I think everything's going digital and wireless. And we provide that, whether it be in stadiums, airports, in the streets, as a pure fiber play. We provide it on military bases, we provided it in housing. We also recently started a higher education group where we have about 350 some universities on managed wireless services as well.
Alejandro Piñero:
Excellent. And I wanted to start there because you mentioned there the several companies at different places where Boldyn works in connectivity. I know you do a lot in urban connectivity, stadiums, arenas, even military. So of course when you walk around the conference, it's easy to just get fixated on rural broadband, which of course is a huge piece of the puzzle when we think about digital divide, but of course, there's other areas that also need development. So just wanted to hear a little bit more about that experience with these different settings and we'll go into commonalities from there.
Walter Cannon:
So I think what I want to do is give you the Walter Cannon... This is the Walter Cannon version of how... This is not a Boldyn message. This is the Walter Cannon version of what we do-
Alejandro Piñero:
Excellent.
Walter Cannon:
... and what we do well. So don't hold my company accountable. I think there's definitely a need for connectivity for everyone everywhere. I think what and what I try to challenge when we work with some of the broadband offices and how to deploy the money that's out there to support it, I think there's a big return in inner city and exploring the digital divide. And whether it be in Cleveland, Ohio, New York City, LA, wherever, we see the need there. And I understand deployment costs are there. Some of the fixed wireless access solutions work very well, and whether it be in the inner city or not, I'm a fiber guy, so I'm always going to try to deal with fiber, but right now we're looking at all types of solutions. Before this call, I was on a call where we're looking at providing connectivity in a small to medium-sized businesses in an area of Queens using fixed wireless access.
I think the good news is that Boldyn is taking advantage where of all these companies that we've put together, we've become experts in a lot of different types of technology, and now we're working through the process of what works well, where and how can we get the best bang for our buck.
Alejandro Piñero:
Yeah. And I'm sure you see commonalities, right, as you go through that process in terms of what works well in certain use cases. You can then take those learnings across, whether it's through cellular fiber, et cetera, and use that in your advantage.
Walter Cannon:
Look, I think our biggest issue is not where to deploy the technology. I think a lot of times our biggest issue is how to work through all the paperwork and processes to get it done. That's still something that while groups like Encompass and NTIA, FCC, they're working very hard to streamline the processes, it's still a challenge. Whether it be in Rome, Italy, in Rome, in London, in New York, in LA, that's still a process of providing connectivity. Hence, why sometimes we do a lot better business as a return on investment and just let's go to a venue where we don't have all the issues.
You see that in... I won't name any names, but you see that already in some of our competitors are selling off their fiber division, and so it's a challenge and supporting in really closing that gap. The statistics, as last measured in New York City alone, was somewhere around, there's still about a 10 to 12% gap in people that need connectivity that don't have access to connectivity.
Alejandro Piñero:
And you mentioned they're fixed wireless, and I did want to ask you about it. I know you just said you're a fiber guy, so I don't know if it makes the question unfair or more controversial, but I did want to hear your thoughts there.
Walter Cannon:
It's just that I've been a part of three different fiber companies that we've sold. So I love fiber. I take my Metamucil every day. I love fiber. Fiber's great. No, but fixed wireless is definitely... Look, the cost of building fiber is not cheap and fixed wireless solves a lot of issues, whether it be... There's a lot of good companies, some that are here, that provide very good fixed wireless solutions that can solve some problems. We're trying to see how that fits into our model of deploying capital.
We are not a consumer-facing... Most of our solutions are managed wireless, so we deal with the venues or whether it be the city, or we deal directly with them, whether... We're not set up to support it, but I think that we do have partners that we work with, like in case what we're doing in Queens New York City where we're working directly with a partner to deliver a consumer solutions using fixed wireless, and at cheaper cost than it would cost us to bring fiber into the buildings that we'll be supporting.
Alejandro Piñero:
So I guess it sits down to the environment, the setting and all that, where the decision is coming into play.
Walter Cannon:
Well, there's some issues, right? There's some issues. One is that fixed wireless, as good as it is, or any technology, as good as it is, it's not always pretty and people don't always want it in their neighborhood. So you get the NIMBY effects. We run into a lot of those and then people don't understand it and the benefits from it. So we do run into those issues, but it's usually issues that you talk through and we spend a lot of... A lot of my job is education, is educating the people on what they do and the benefits of wireless communications, whether it be over wifi or over cellular.
Alejandro Piñero:
Yeah. So picking up on that, more widely than just FWA than from a cellular perspective, what technologies do you see there playing a key role in continuing to connect and bridge the digital divide beyond?
Walter Cannon:
So I think this is going to be one of the things where things get... In my personal opinion, I think this is going to be something where it gets dragged along as you see the merger going and the synchronization of what's happening in committees like the IEEE and 3GPP where wifi is getting very close to cellular and cellular's getting very close to wifi, and they act and carry a lot of the same characteristics. So I can route packets, I can have a good handshake. Perfect example, you're on a Zoom call or you're... No, better yet, you're on a Facebook... What's that called? Messenger?
Alejandro Piñero:
Messenger?
Walter Cannon:
Yeah,
Alejandro Piñero:
I think so.
Walter Cannon:
I'm not allowed to go on it. So you're on Facebook Messenger, and then you walk out of your house and you go into your car and sometimes you lose it or you have to reboot it, and that's because there's not a handshake that happens between Wi-Fi and your cellular provider.
Well, stuff like that is going away when you look at the new specs. So I think that they both are going to continue to play a very, very big role and we will see more and more applications that are developed that will support it. Everybody likes to jump on the AI bandwagon, but I think there's other things that are as important, if not more important, like education and healthcare administration and access to social services.
During COVID, we saw petabytes of access being over our network in New York City because people didn't have access to just simple things like food stamps or employment or housing. So I think there's a lot of education. There's a lot more that's out there that we need to work on as a society to provide this type of access. For me, it's the same utility as gas, electric. You need wireless access.
Alejandro Piñero:
Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. And I know when we were talking about this chat today, we did spend some time about CBRS specifically, and I did want to give the folks here a chance to get some of those insights you shared with me around your opinion on CBRS and where that's headed.
Walter Cannon:
Look, overall... There's no one from FCC. I'm going to give them a compliment. Overall, the chairwoman at FCC and prior to her, they've done a very good job, I believe, of making access to spectrum, and now the issue really is utilization of the spectrum and how do you afford to pay for it. With us not having that killer app and killer usage, I think some of the IIJ money and all the other money that's out there to provide connectivity can make use of that spectrum, although it's not specifically written because I don't believe the elected officials understand the benefits of CBRS.
Think about... I'm just going to speak at home. I'm an inner city kid, grew up in Detroit and New York. If we look at the federal housing projects that have limited to no access of connectivity, CBRS solves that. So these are the types of projects we're trying to work on right now. We're using private networking CBRS. I can provide access to a kid that can do his homework, and those things are near and dear to me having grown up.
Quick story. I learned how to program when I was 12. My father taught me, and we had a telephone that you would hear the beep and you drop it down on a modem and use a typewriter to write code. I think when I relate that to what people deal with today, it's huge. How much did I learn from having this capability when I was 12 years old?
So I think this is something that the return on investment, in addition, the additive value to the GDP, whether it be in your city or the US overall, is huge, and I don't think it's calculable. So we could see it if you just go back and relate to, you started with 1G and then now we're at 5G, and what else is everything bringing and see the access to the internet. So you can see the added value and you make use of it every day. I mean, you order your Starbucks from your app and you go pick it up, but I think there's more to come.
Alejandro Piñero:
Yeah. I think that's a good point, which ties to what we're talking about in terms of that perception of bridging the digital divide. It is about creating those opportunities and engaging in the digital economy and driving growth in GDP.
Just on the note of your anecdote, I was just explaining to my six-year-old last week that when I was growing up, the phone was stuck to the wall. And I'm curious to see what he'll say to his kids. He still didn't quite get it. He thought that the iPhone was stuck to the wall, but there you go.
Walter Cannon:
We actually had one of the first AT&T video phones in our house in like '74. My father worked for AT&T and he was in that part of the business, but anyway.
Alejandro Piñero:
There you go.
Walter Cannon:
I just wanted to say a little bit more on this, get back to CBRS, because I sort of went on a tangent. Where everything is merging, I think the ability to have to go off of a private network or a Wi-Fi network, because they act very similar, is huge and the ability to have continuity so that I want to get in my car, I want to go somewhere, I want to do something, is huge, and the ability to have security, a higher level of security is huge from a private networking perspective. So I think it's all systems go for us at Boldyn. We are heavily invested into providing private networking solutions. We're doing it today.
Alejandro Piñero:
Excellent. I did want to give folks here a chance to ask any questions where... It's the beauty of these smaller rooms. You can get what you're thinking answered. Are there any questions? Yeah?
Walter Cannon:
All over the world. Yes sir.
Audience Member #1:
When you're doing this, are you using something that you've proven in one place and then you deploy it multiple places based off of your experience with that and do you make decisions about which technology you're using or is that contracted out to a local partner that makes decisions about what components to use, what technology to use?
Walter Cannon:
So we manage it from soup to nuts, but I would say that our deployment practices, we would like to have best practices, if you will, but every place is different. Even in the North America... Even better, what we do in New York City, we don't do in New Jersey or we may or may not do in New Jersey. So it really depends on the solution and a lot of it is geared by whatever the solution is or whatever we're deploying or whatever we're partnering with.
Audience Member #1:
Great. Thank you.
Walter Cannon:
Does that answer your question?
Audience Member #1:
Yeah, it does. Thanks.
Walter Cannon:
Okay, thank you. Excellent.
Alejandro Piñero:
We have one more minute here. Are there any other questions? Excellent. All right, well... Oh, there we go. One more.
Audience Member #2:
So thinking about some of the applications that you talked about, stadiums and all the different varieties, but if you're in a conversation with a small city or maybe one of the larger housing authorities or housing complex, but a small city scenario, thinking about public Wi-Fi, what are the questions you would ask around that conversation? What are some of the parameters of that sort of conversation?
Walter Cannon:
Yeah, that's a very good question. So the company I came from that Boldyn bought, it's called ZenFi Networks. We run the largest public Wi-Fi network in the country called Link NYC. And there have been some struggles, and the struggles have been on two sides. One is how do you pay for it? Initially... because there was no funding to pay for the network. It was an idea concocted by... very, very good idea brought up by the Bloomberg administration, carried out by the de Blasio administration. And so that's number one is how are you going to pay for this? How does this work?
And if you look at, not to minimize anything that the broadband offices are doing, but capital usage pays for the initial implementation, but it doesn't pay for ongoing support, so we have to figure out ideas. We are constantly evolving that. We're doing that in the New York area on the current network that we've done. But it's a combination of both providing public Wi-Fi, and we also do free phone calling in North America and wireless siting for stuff like small cells or fixed wireless all out of the same structure. So it's a hard formidable task, but we are working our way through it on a daily basis.
Alejandro Piñero:
Excellent. Well, I'm afraid we're out of time, but I want to thank you for taking the time. Always great to hear from you.