Agenda

Cutting Through the Noise: What Data Centers Mean for You, Your Community, and Our Country

This session will ground the ongoing debate over data centers in facts about the unprecedented scale and scope of disruption being caused by AI and its demands for power, water, land, and data capacity. Hear first-hand from those building this digital infrastructure about how they navigate these issues in their pursuit of responsible but rapid construction, and the interplay with and lessons for the broadband sector.

Spectrum, FWA & Mobility: FCC Priorities in the Current Administration

The Federal Communications Commission is playing a large role in the future of universal connectivity, with a current focus on aggressively expanding mid-band spectrum for 5G/6G, streamlining satellite-to-smartphone connectivity to eliminate dead zones, and fostering competition in Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and mobility by moving underutilized airwaves into the hands of providers. This session will explore how the FCC is marking the 30-year anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 with sweeping change — and how these policy decisions will set the stage for the next generation of innovation and investment.

How an IRS Rule is Unlocking Public Broadband Finance in Rural America 

When Kendall County, Illinois set out to bring fiber and fixed wireless broadband to more than 10,000 unserved and underserved addresses across its rural communities, it faced the challenge every rural broadband builder knows well: the gap between what grants can fund and what infrastructure actually costs. The answer wasn’t a new subsidy program — it was a century-old IRS ruling. When the Port of Lewiston needed to make a choice of serving their community with existing dark fiber, or letting that investment be overbuilt, neither grants nor BEAD were available to help form that decision. The Port enlisted Pivot to develop a 15,000 service location network without risk to balance sheet or any new taxation. In March 2025, Fox Fiber, NFP closed its Series 2025A Project Revenue Bonds under IRS Revenue Ruling 63-20, making Kendall County one of a small but growing number of communities to successfully pair a 63-20 public instrumentality with state broadband grant funding to finance a full-scale hybrid fiber/fixed wireless network. The transaction closed with Kendall County Board authorization, a competitively procured construction and program management team, and a governance structure designed to transfer the network to full county ownership upon bond retirement — with no taxpayer risk along the way. A similar structure is underway in Lewiston, Idaho. Vastly different from the Kendall County process, but the end result will be the same; a community owned network built with no risk or liability to the Port, the City or the taxpayers. Also, a hybrid network, but with new bells and whistles that increase lower income participation while creating a strong business/resi eco-system, as well as a dual play program for revenue diversification. This session will walk through how the deal was structured, what it means for network builders, and why the 63-20 model deserves a closer look from communities and developers across the Mountain West and beyond. Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of:

• How a 63-20 nonprofit instrumentality works and why it qualifies for tax-exempt bond financing
• How to stack grant dollars alongside bond proceeds to close the capital gap
• What competitive procurement, governance, and operational obligations come with the structure — and how to satisfy them
• Why this model can be a genuine alternative to municipal ownership or private carrier deployment in underserved markets
The risks, tradeoffs, and open questions builders and communities should evaluate before pursuing it

Permitting Barriers & Successes in BEAD Deployment

Permitting is one of the most critical—and complex—factors shaping the success of BEAD-funded broadband deployment in the Western United States. This panel brings together state broadband leaders to discuss real-world permitting barriers encountered across rural, tribal, and federally managed lands, and the strategies states are using to overcome them. Panelists will explore challenges such as environmental review timelines, rights-of-way approvals, limited local permitting capacity, and inconsistent jurisdictional requirements. The discussion will also highlight successful approaches, including centralized state coordination, early engagement with federal land management agencies, standardized permitting frameworks, and collaborative partnerships with tribal and local governments. Designed for state broadband offices, policymakers, and providers, this session will offer practical insights and transferable best practices to reduce delays, increase certainty, and accelerate BEAD implementation while respecting environmental, tribal, and local governance considerations.

Securing the AI Data Center Boom

Technology Selection Process for Brownfield MDUs

Broadband Services providers are sometimes faced with difficult choices when trying to upgrade broadband technology within existing (brownfield) Multi-dwelling units (e.g. apartments, resorts, retirement homes, hospitals assisted living, barracks, dormitories, condos, townhomes, etc.). This session will provide various technology options, along with advantages and disadvantages to enable reliable highspeed broadband services within these high density revenue opportunities. The panel would include a brief presentation covering both commercial and technical challenges, and include Jim Staheli from Positron (technology expertise), Greg Herrman from Core telecom (commercial expertise) and a representative from Deeply Digital (an ISP having deployed various MDU technologies). The session would provide basic choices, criteria for and grades on each with a question and answer session helping attending ISPs with their specific challenges for brownfield MDUs.

Pluggable Optic Innovation Improves Access Architectures

Learn how you can extend remote OLTs deeper into the network while at the same time saving money on optical transport. Taking advantage of new pluggable coherent optics can change the rural fiber broadband network architecture, saving capital costs of both the active optical transport and outside plant material. Hear directly from a service provider as well as the innovator of this technology.

Preparing Broadband for the AI Era

As AI rapidly expands across public and private sectors, the demand for fast, reliable, and resilient broadband has become a national priority. This session explores how state broadband offices—especially those implementing BEAD—play a critical role in enabling the infrastructure that AI depends on. We will examine how BEAD-funded fiber, middle‑mile upgrades, and resilient network design support the administration’s broader goals around AI innovation, economic development, and public safety. The discussion will highlight how modern connectivity enables AI tools that strengthen emergency response, improve community services, and enhance critical infrastructure security. We will walk away with a clear understanding of how broadband strategy, AI‑ready infrastructure, and federal priorities align to support long‑term statewide digital resilience.

The Backbone of AI Infrastructure

A candid, on-the-ground perspective on the barriers fiber providers face as they work to meet growing compute and power demands — including permitting delays, rights-of-way challenges, environmental reviews, workforce constraints, and inconsistencies across federal, state, and local processes. We’ll connect broadband deployment policy directly to critical infrastructure protection, cybersecurity resilience, and long-term economic competitiveness.

If You Build It, They Won’t Necessarily Come: Acquiring and Keeping Subscribers Through Broadband Adoption Strategies

Building the infrastructure is only half the battle in broadband: to sustain that network, you need subscribers. Whether it’s making the case to older adults to use telehealth, helping local entrepreneurs bring a small business online, or letting parents stay in touch with their children’s schools, potential subscribers need to know the why and the how. That’s where digital inclusion programs come in, helping community members see broadband’s value in their day-to-day lives and teaching them how to use it safely and effectively. Join digital inclusion experts to discuss on the ground knowledge of barriers and best practices to broadband adoption. We’ll cover affordability, digital skills, safety and security, and digital confidence – all through looking at real examples that can provide a roadmap to drive broadband adoption in your community.

Overcoming Barriers to Universal Broadband

A dynamic discussion among state broadband officials about multiple broadband programs (BEAD, CPF, SLFRF and RDOF) converging 2026 deadlines and the collaboration required to overcome the barriers to deployment ensuring the promise of universal broadband is finally delivered.  

We will discuss BEAD’s broad bipartisan support with potential to be a major win for federal, state, and local governments. Specifically, we will explore the opportunities at the local level for BEAD, and some of the challenges that still need addressing.  

Federal, state, and local governments have varying authorities and roles to address barriers to BEAD deployment. We plan to examine the unique role state broadband offices can play in helping overcome obstacles related to permitting, poles, and easements.  

This panel will cover:  

Permitting 

• The panel would address the permitting challenges impacting network expansion across the country. We would discuss concrete steps state and local governments can take to reduce permitting delays, and which broadband ready practices states have already taken and those outcomes.  

 Pole Attachments 

• The discussion would also include questions about how states should balance pole replacement funding, utility responsibility, and fair cost distribution, and what innovations in undergrounding or grid modernization can accelerate BEAD builds.  

 Easements and Rights of Way 

• The panel would include discussion around how states can clarify or modernize antiquated easement laws to support rural buildout, and where federal and state authorities need tighter coordination.  

Let's assume we've fixed the supply problem, what about demand?

• Using spatial and competitive data to inform build timing, market entry, and overbuild risk
• Anticipating competitor responses and how incentives and funding structures shape behavior
• Maximizing take rates through targeted positioning and demand-side strategies
• Aligning compliance requirements with business realities, including impacts on cash flow and capital planning
• Strategically refining project footprints to improve long-term viability

Cash Meets Construction: The Realities of Scaling Fiber Overbuilds

This panel will discuss where the rubber meets the road for fiber builders scaling rapidly and where cash flow, funding, competitive dynamics converge to maturity, EBITDA, ARPU penetration and churn. Lessons learned from all angles that operators can take away to make their business better and answer the question of what comes next?

Better Margins through Better Products

We will explore how the accelerated software development has allowed smaller ISPs to deliver end-to-end customer experiences as comprehensive as those from incumbents. It’s easier than ever to profitably deploy mobile, security, managed wi-fi, and even TV/video to your customers. Understanding how your customers are actually using your product allows you to position yourself right where they are- making calls, streaming video, connecting to meetings, and more. The best part about this is that you are not only making money, but you are also positioning your brand where customers can see it and your core product is working at its best.

The Hidden Risks in Infrastructure Delivery: Permitting, Compliance, and the Path to No Clawbacks

As BEAD funding moves from awards to active construction, many of the most difficult challenges are only now emerging. This panel moves beyond policy and program design to focus on the realities of execution – what it actually takes to translate BEAD awards into deployed, compliant, and auditable broadband networks. Panelists will share on-the-ground lessons from early deployment efforts, including permitting and environmental reviews, labor and supply-chain constraints, subcontractor management, and the growing complexity of state and federal reporting requirements. The discussion will also explore how gaps between construction activity, compliance documentation, and financial controls can lead to reimbursement delays, audit findings, or potential claw backs – and how leading teams are structuring governance and oversight to mitigate those risks in real time. Designed for state broadband offices, ISPs, tribes, and delivery partners, this session offers a candid, practitioner-level view of what is working, what is slowing projects down, and how execution models are evolving as BEAD enters its most consequential phase.

Who Should Own Fiber Infrastructure? Utilities, Cities, Developers, or ISPs?

Local Permits, Big Headaches

The NTIA BEAD program has already allocated approximately 20 billion dollars in deployment funds. Eligible Entities and Subgrantees are actively planning, forecasting, scheduling, procuring, and designing. But what happens later on down the line? Local permitting is where deployment plans meet the real world—and sometimes collide with it. This candid panel brings together state broadband leaders and on the ground practitioners to share stories about the challenges, surprises, and human moments behind local permitting. From unexpected roadblocks to hard won breakthroughs, attendees will hear what it really takes to navigate local permitting while keeping projects (and tempers) on track. This session will emphasize how early, consistent, and respectful engagement at the local level, including “boots on the ground,” can dramatically reduce delays and improve project outcomes. Panelists will explore how these relationships are especially critical in smaller jurisdictions where staff juggle multiple roles, and how, by investing in these partnerships, Subgrantees can unlock smoother reviews, clearer feedback loops, and more collaborative problem-solving throughout the permitting process. This panel will dive into real-world examples and highlight the human side of deployment: the towns that became partners, the jurisdictions that threw curveballs, as well as the collaborative relationships that helped move projects forward despite those obstacles. Panelists will share best practices and what it’s like to navigate mismatched requirements, shifting timelines, seasonal moratoriums, and the occasional “lost” application. If you’ve ever walked into a permit office with optimism and walked out feeling frustrated, this conversation is for you! Join us for honest stories, real world lessons, and shared discussion.

Permitting and Beyond: Local Government Engagement

As private and BEAD-funded fiber deployments mature and the most accessible passings are exhausted, operators are entering a more complex phase of growth marked by higher costs, lower density, increased competition, and constrained municipal review capacity. In this environment, local government engagement is no longer a transactional permitting step but rather a critical driver of project alignment, deployment speed, and cost efficiency. Early, proactive collaboration with municipal stakeholders can streamline approval processes, reduce rework, and materially lower cost per passing. Leading operators are shifting toward integrated engagement models that align early on design standards, construction expectations, and community priorities thus accelerating timelines and unlocking more efficient deployment pathways. This panel will examine how fiber builders and municipalities can further enable growth by identifying anchor institution demand, supporting targeted infill strategies, and advancing public-private partnerships that extend network reach while improving overall economics. By connecting government affairs, network planning, and go-to-market strategy, the discussion will highlight how strong municipal alignment reduces regulatory friction, improves asset utilization, and lowers customer acquisition costs — particularly in overbuilt and harder-to-serve markets. Attendees will gain a practical framework for transforming local government relationships into a durable strategic advantage driving faster approvals, lowering deployment costs, and extending network value well beyond the initial build.

Workforce 2.0: The Emerging Overlap Between Roles

Fiber networks, edge deployments, and data centers are converging faster than the workforce pipelines supporting it. Fiber technicians and data center technicians are increasingly working side by side, yet they’re being trained, credentialed, and hired as if they operate in entirely separate worlds. The result is a compounding labor shortage: not just a lack of workers, but a lack of workers who understand the full connectivity stack. This session will examine the emerging overlap between broadband infrastructure roles, the structural gaps in how the industry currently trains and classifies technicians, and the opportunity to solve both problems at once through cross-discipline, standardized training frameworks. Attendees will leave with a clear picture of where role convergence is already happening in the field, what standardized curriculum and credentialing could look like across disciplines, and how ISPs, data center operators, workforce development programs, and policymakers can collaborate to build more resilient talent pipelines.

When It Goes Sideways: The Role of Critical Communications in Broadband and Data Center Execution

Let’s be honest. No broadband build or data center deployment goes exactly to plan. Permits stall. Make-ready drags. A contractor hits the wrong line. A landowner calls the county. Then the mayor. Then the press. What started as a routine hiccup turns into a public problem overnight. At the same time, AI-fueled data center growth has put a spotlight on projects that used to fly under the radar. Communities are asking harder questions. Regulators are watching more closely. Advocacy groups are organized and loud. And thanks to social media, every delay, disruption, or misstep now comes with photos, commentary, and a growing audience. This panel gets real about what actually happens when infrastructure projects go sideways and why critical communications is no longer a “nice to have,” it’s a core execution function. From early permitting through construction to live operations, the ability to communicate clearly, quickly, and credibly can be the difference between a manageable issue and a full-blown reputational mess. We’ll dig into real scenarios, including construction conflicts, community backlash, elected official pressure, major outages, cybersecurity concerns, and environmental events like wildfires. More importantly, we’ll talk about what to do when you’re in it. Because you will be in it. What attendees will learn:

• How to spot the issues most likely to escalate before they do
• Why most teams wait too long to engage and how to get ahead of stakeholders early
• What to say when you don’t have all the answers but everyone expects one
• How to respond when a situation goes public and you’re suddenly on the defensive
• The difference between reacting and controlling the narrative, and why it matters
• How to build internal alignment fast so legal, ops, and comms aren’t working against each other
• What “having receipts” actually looks like when you’re called out online