Broadband Development Conference

All-Conference Sessions

August 10, 2026
9:00 am - 3:00 pm Green Valley Ranch Golf Club

Mountain Connect Golf Tournament

4900 Himalaya Rd. Denver, CO 80249 303 371-3131

10:00 am - 6:00 pm Registration Desk

Registration Open

3:30 pm - 5:30 pm Governors Square 10

Connecting Every Building at Scale: Digitizing In-Building Fiber Deployment with NET Inhouse

 
TKI’s Execution Excellence in Fiber Rollouts: with more than 35 years of experience in telecom infrastructure software and fiber network engineering, TKI supports operators, contractors, engineering firms, and infrastructure owners in planning, building, documenting, and operating complex passive network infrastructures. From large-scale outside plant deployments to in-building fiber connectivity, TKI combines deep industry knowledge with proven digital workflows that help project teams reduce rework, minimize delays, improve transparency, and deliver networks more efficiently.

The session will show how teams can move from photos, PDFs, disconnected checklists, and manual handovers toward a fully digital workflow, from the first site survey to final as-built documentation.
 
Key Topics
  • Digitizing in-building fiber surveys using 3D scans and digital twins
  • Planning installation routes directly in the building model
  • Streamlining owner, customer, and stakeholder approvals
  • Reducing errors and rework through structured checklists and material logic
  • Improving visibility across orders, teams, documentation status, and QA
  • Supporting audit readiness and operational handover through automated as-built documentation
  • Accelerating MDU and commercial building connectivity at scale
 
Why This Matters
 
While outside plant deployment remains critical, many programs still lose time, margin, and momentum at the in-building stage.
 
This workshop will give attendees a practical view of how digital in-building workflows can help unlock faster customer activation, more reliable documentation, better execution control, and scalable deployment models for MDU and commercial fiber projects.

Falko Hansch

Falko Hansch

Niki Carnahan

Niki Carnahan

Will Bender

Will Bender

Jan H. Schindler

Jan H. Schindler

3:30 pm - 5:30 pm Governors Square 16

ISP Focus Groups on Broadband Deployment Barriers

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is convening small focused discussions with internet service providers at Mountain Connect 2026. We want to understand the practical issues that ISPs encounter as they deploy broadband infrastructure, such as permitting and rights-of-way, workforce constraints, supply chain challenges, and coordination with state and local agencies.

Insights from these discussions will inform research briefs for policymakers, broadband offices, legislative staff, and other stakeholders working to implement broadband infrastructure programs. All contributions will be anonymized and not attributable to a specific person or ISP. Our goal is not simply to document challenges, but to identify actionable solutions that can accelerate broadband deployment while maintaining strong accountability and consumer protections.
 
Who should participate: We are looking for provider representatives who have broad familiarity with their organization’s network deployment challenges.  
What: 45-60 minute group discussions, anonymized responses
When/Where: August 10, 3:30 pm, Governors Square 16
 
The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a 45-year-old nonprofit working to make sure everyone in the United States can use and benefit from high quality, affordable broadband. We strengthen local, state, and national leadership by providing the timely information and analysis, practical guidance, and advocacy needed to articulate and implement a Broadband for All agenda.

If you are interested in participating, please take two minutes to complete this brief screener so we can assemble balanced groups of providers.

Thank you for considering participation. Your experience and insight is essential to ensuring that broadband policy reflects the realities of network deployment.

Caroline Stratton

Caroline Stratton

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm General Session Ballroom

Welcome Reception

Meet and greet fellow attendees. You will find a Unique Surprise... but a Decision Awaits.

All-Conference Sessions

August 11, 2026
7:00 am - 5:00 pm Registration Desk

Registration Open

7:00 am - 8:00 am Exhibit Hall

Breakfast

8:00 am - 9:15 am General Session Ballroom

Welcome and Keynote, Beyond Gigabits: Building Networks Customers Never Want to Leave

Beyond Gigabits: Building Networks Customers Never Want to Leave

Network performance is no longer measured solely by speed tests—it is measured by customer trust.

Today's highest-performing broadband providers understand that resilient, intelligent network infrastructure is directly connected to customer experience, Net Promoter Scores (NPS), and long-term subscriber loyalty. Every outage avoided, every service issue resolved before the customer notices, and every meaningful customer interaction strengthens a provider's brand while reducing costly churn.

This operator-only panel brings together leaders from a diverse group of broadband providers—including Tier 1 fiber, cable, municipal utility, rural fiber, and hybrid fixed wireless operators—to explore how they are building resilient networks that deliver exceptional customer experiences. Panelists will discuss how AI-enabled network operations, proactive monitoring, redundancy, customer service excellence, and ongoing customer engagement combine to create lasting competitive advantage.

Attendees will leave with practical strategies for improving reliability, increasing customer satisfaction, and transforming network operations into one of their strongest drivers of growth and profitability.

Jeff Gavlinski

Jeff Gavlinski

Gary Bolton

Gary Bolton

Roger Timmerman

Roger Timmerman

Dennis Pappas

Dennis Pappas

Katie Epeseth

Katie Epeseth

Matt Larsen

Matt Larsen

Alberto Garcia

Alberto Garcia

10:45 am - 12:30 pm Exhibit Hall

Exhibit Hall Hours

11:00 am - 11:45 am General Session Ballroom

Roundtables: Deep-Dive Discussions with Industry Leaders

Strategy, Growth & Leadership

  • Where Is Real Growth Coming From Over the Next 3 Years? (WAS Growth Strategies for the Next Five Years)
  • Build vs. Buy vs. Partner: How Are You Deciding in 2026?
  • Overbuilding: Threat, Opportunity, or Both?
  • Partnerships That Actually Work (and the Ones That Don’t)
  • Private Equity, Public Funding, or Organic Growth—What’s the Smart Play?
  • What Will Break Your Network in 5 Years That You’re Not Planning For?

__________________________________________________________________

BEAD, Funding & Deployment

  • What’s Actually Slowing Down BEAD Deployment—and How Are You Fixing It?
  • Matching Funds: Creative Ways to Close the Gap Without Killing ROI
  • Winning vs. Losing BEAD Applications: What Are We Learning?
  • Post-Award Reality: What No One Told You About Execution
  • Rural vs. Urban Operations: What’s Fundamentally Different?

__________________________________________________________________

Network Operations & Customer Experience

  • Where Are You Actually Cutting Costs Without Killing Quality?
  • Labor Shortages: What’s Working (and Not) Right Now?
  • Vendor Overload: How Do You Evaluate Without Wasting Time?
  • Customer Experience vs. Cost: Where Do You Draw the Line?
  • What’s Actually Working to Reduce Churn Right Now?
  • Trouble Tickets: What’s Causing the Most Pain Right Now?

__________________________________________________________________

Technology, Innovation & Security

  • Where Are You Most Vulnerable Right Now—and What Are You Actually Doing About It?
  • Fiber, Fixed Wireless, or Hybrid—What’s Winning Where?
  • Edge + AI Demands: Are You Planning for It—or Ignoring It?
  • Future-Proofing Networks: What Does That Really Mean in Practice?

12:00 pm - 12:30 pm Exhibit Hall

Lunch

12:30 pm - 1:15 pm General Session Ballroom

Keynote: Broadband Is Not Enough: The Missing Infrastructure Between Communities and AI

For years, broadband policy has focused on one essential goal: connecting every home, business, school, farm, and community anchor institution to affordable high-speed internet. That work remains critical. But the rise of artificial intelligence is forcing a new question that many states, communities, and local network operators have not yet had to confront: once users are connected, where does their traffic actually go?

AI will not run on last-mile connectivity alone. Real-time inference, AI agents, telehealth, cybersecurity, precision agriculture, advanced manufacturing, education, and public-sector AI services will depend on fast, predictable, resilient connections between users, networks, cloud platforms, data centers, and compute resources. If traffic from a community must travel hundreds of miles to reach the networks and compute platforms it depends on, physical distance, inefficient routing, packet loss, and congestion can become hidden barriers to performance, adoption, and economic competitiveness.

This session will help state broadband leaders, local ISPs, policymakers, and community stakeholders understand the missing layer of infrastructure between broadband access and AI readiness: the regional places where networks meet, exchange traffic, connect to cloud and compute resources, and keep data closer to the communities it serves.

Panelists will explain why Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), regional transport, neocloud connectivity, and compute-adjacent interconnection are becoming essential building blocks for AI-ready regions. The discussion will challenge the assumption that distant data centers, national carriers, and major cloud platforms will simply “make it work” for every community—and will explore why states that fail to develop regional interconnection infrastructure may risk falling behind in the next wave of the digital economy.


Brent Legg

Brent Legg

Hunter Newby

Hunter Newby

James Jun

James Jun

Bryan Lubin

Bryan Lubin

3:30 pm - 5:15 pm Exhibit Hall

Exhibit Hall Hours

3:45 pm - 4:30 pm General Session Ballroom

Roundtables: Deep-Dive Discussions with Industry Leaders

Strategy, Growth & Leadership

  • Where Is Real Growth Coming From Over the Next 3 Years? (WAS Growth Strategies for the Next Five Years)
  • Build vs. Buy vs. Partner: How Are You Deciding in 2026?
  • Overbuilding: Threat, Opportunity, or Both?
  • Partnerships That Actually Work (and the Ones That Don’t)
  • Private Equity, Public Funding, or Organic Growth—What’s the Smart Play?
  • What Will Break Your Network in 5 Years That You’re Not Planning For?

__________________________________________________________________

BEAD, Funding & Deployment

  • What’s Actually Slowing Down BEAD Deployment—and How Are You Fixing It?
  • Matching Funds: Creative Ways to Close the Gap Without Killing ROI
  • Winning vs. Losing BEAD Applications: What Are We Learning?
  • Post-Award Reality: What No One Told You About Execution
  • Rural vs. Urban Operations: What’s Fundamentally Different?

__________________________________________________________________

Network Operations & Customer Experience

  • Where Are You Actually Cutting Costs Without Killing Quality?
  • Labor Shortages: What’s Working (and Not) Right Now?
  • Vendor Overload: How Do You Evaluate Without Wasting Time?
  • Customer Experience vs. Cost: Where Do You Draw the Line?
  • What’s Actually Working to Reduce Churn Right Now?
  • Trouble Tickets: What’s Causing the Most Pain Right Now?

__________________________________________________________________

Technology, Innovation & Security

  • Where Are You Most Vulnerable Right Now—and What Are You Actually Doing About It?
  • Fiber, Fixed Wireless, or Hybrid—What’s Winning Where?
  • Edge + AI Demands: Are You Planning for It—or Ignoring It?
  • Future-Proofing Networks: What Does That Really Mean in Practice?

5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Exhibit Hall

Exhibitor Reception