Dear SBCA Member and Colleagues,
2019 was a very busy and productive year for the SBCA team as we worked diligently on finding the best ways to support our members and continue to strive to be a voice for the satellite community. We were able to make great strides in the ongoing outreach and education efforts with respect to broadband while ensuring our industry is protected from unfair tax and licensing legislations.
We were able to stop an unfair tax law in Illinois, end burdensome licensing requirements in Arizona, continue to push for fair licensing rules in Maryland, and we stayed on top of North Dakota until they were finished with their new licensing board and were able to keep our industry exempted. Going into 2020 we will continue these efforts and we look forward to helping to raise awareness of challenging legislation and update licensing so that it reflects what our industry truly does for the consumer.
We spearheaded efforts with respect to broadband throughout the US meeting legislators from more than a dozen states. SBCA attained a seat on the Illinois Broadband Advisory Council, participated in a panel at ALEC for the Rural Caucus conference, presented at the HughesNet dealer summit, hosted a booth at the National Council of State Legislators conference, attended one on one meetings with more than 40 legislators at state Democratic and Republican leadership conferences. 2020 will bring many more opportunities with the ability to utilize social media to target key legislators and to bring full awareness to the abilities of satellite broadband.
OTARD has continued to be a priority at the SBCA with efforts to assist the FCC with complaints that are suited for us to handle versus their staff, and ensuring outreach and education is still happening for both the consumer and the HOA’s and various governing bodies that manage and develop properties across the US. We have seen HOA’S reach out to us for help in coming up with plans that enable their communities to benefit with satellite and also to resolve issues that were not protected by the OTARD rule which enable communities to keep their satellites in non-exclusive use areas. We believe in the upcoming year we will continue to make strides in this area.
This past summer SBCA engaged in a new area of a grass roots letter writing campaign effort, targeting consumers affected by the STELAR renewal to get them motivated to push their representatives to renew the law when it comes due this December. We look forward to seeing how this platform might assist us in future outreach efforts with respect to taxes and other burdensome legislation.
The SBCA Foundation donations to the Mexico Beach Fire Department from damage incurred by hurricane Michael along with the La Fiera Fire Department to replace communications gear damaged in flooding. Since its inception in 2013 the SBCA Foundation has donated more than $100,000 to local communities who have been impacted by natural disaster. We will continue this effort into 2020 and we will continue to bring awareness to the capabilities of satellite technology to help areas impacted by natural disaster.
Lastly, SBCA looks forward to working with our members in finding the best methods and practices in assisting all of you and our consumer base in 2020. We cannot accomplish all that we do without the support of our members, we look forward to continuing our success in 2020.
Thank you for your continued support.
Respectfully,
