Broadband Development Conference
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Jim Cannon

Pivot Tech, CEO & Founder

As CEO, Jim is laser-focused on Pivot's mission to revolutionize sustainable broadband infrastructure and leads delivery of full-spectrum solutions encompassing financing, design, construction, and operation of hybrid fiber and fixed wireless networks. With a keen understanding that viable business cases are the foundation of technological advancement, Jim oversees the design and deployment of disruptive fiber systems and comprehensive MVNO platforms.

Jim has previously held executive leadership roles with MOBIA and Working Group Two (now part of Cisco) and currently sits on Ciena's Broadband Board of Advisors.

All Sessions by Jim Cannon

1:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Governors Square 15

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

Two communities. Two very different starting points. Same answer, and it was written into the tax code sixty years ago.
Kendall County, Illinois had 10,000 addresses that no carrier would build to and a grant award that covered a fraction of the cost.
 
The Port of Lewiston, Idaho had dark fiber in the ground, no grant program to lean on, and a closing window before someone overbuilt it. Neither had a balance sheet to risk or an appetite for new taxes.
 
Both are now building fiber broadband networks, financed with tax-exempt revenue bonds under IRS Revenue Ruling 63-20, that transfer to community ownership when the bonds retire. No taxpayer guarantee. No new millage. Roughly 25,000 service locations between them.
 
Attendees of this session will leave with a practical understanding of:
• How the structure works and why it qualifies for tax-exempt bond financing
• How grant dollars and bond proceeds stack to close the capital gap
• Why this model can be a genuine alternative to municipal ownership or private carrier deployment in underserved markets
• Risks, tradeoffs, and questions to evaluate beforehand
 
If you are a county weighing ownership, an ISP hunting a new deployment model, or a builder trying to figure out where the capital comes from, this is the mechanics, not the theory.