Broadband Development Conference
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Brent Legg

Connected Nation, EVP, Government Affairs

Brent Legg is Executive Vice President, Government Affairs at Connected Nation and group lead for IXP.US, a joint venture to develop and operate carrier-neutral Internet Exchange Point (IXP) facilities in regional markets across the United States to strengthen network interconnection, reduce latency, improve resiliency, and support the infrastructure demands of the AI era. With more than 23 years of experience at the intersection of broadband infrastructure, public policy, and economic development, Brent has worked with federal and state leaders, broadband offices, community institutions, and private-sector partners to advance connectivity solutions that meet both local needs and national priorities.

All Sessions by Brent Legg

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

The Goldilocks Build: Getting Infrastructure “Just Right”

Part 1: The Goldilocks Build: Getting Infrastructure “Just Right”
As broadband investments accelerate nationwide, the traditional “one-size-fits-all” deployment model is giving way to a more pragmatic, multi-purpose build strategy. This approach—grounded in a “Goldilocks” philosophy—focuses on designing infrastructure that is not overbuilt, not underbuilt, but right-sized to serve multiple community needs at once. By aligning fiber (and wireless) deployment with transportation corridors, vertical assets, CAIs, smart infrastructure, and resilience planning, states and providers can stretch every dollar further while delivering greater long-term value. Multi-purpose builds unlock efficiencies in permitting, construction, and maintenance, while also enabling use cases beyond connectivity, including public safety, grid modernization, and environmental monitoring.
 
Part 2 - Panel Discussion: Making It Real: Implementing Multi-Purpose Builds Across Sectors
This session will explore how leaders are operationalizing this shift, moving from single-purpose broadband projects to integrated infrastructure strategies that maximize return on investment and community impact. The discussion will highlight real-world examples, policy considerations, and funding alignment opportunities that make multi-purpose builds viable at scale. A follow-on panel featuring cross-sector experts will dive deeper into implementation challenges, partnership models, and lessons learned from the field & providing attendees with actionable insights to bring this & just right; approach to their own programs.

2:15 pm - 2:45 pm
Governors Square 15

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.