Kevin Uyeno - Mountain Connect

Kevin Uyeno is Vice President and Chief of Staff at Pivot-Tech Development, where he serves as the connective tissue between Pivot's corporate strategy and focus on community development and every phase of broadband deployment — from feasibility and financing through network construction and long-term operations. His remit spans the full arc of Pivot's work: translating executive direction into program plans, driving market pursuits and contract execution, and making certain the systems, staffing, and processes are ready before a network goes live.

Before joining Pivot-Tech, Kevin spent nearly a decade at Charter Communications leading technical and cross-functional teams, upgrading network architecture and bringing major products to market, including the national launch of Spectrum Mobile — Charter's MVNO.

Kevin holds a bachelor's degree from Belmont University and is based in Lone Tree, Colorado.

All Sessions by Kevin Uyeno

August 11, 2026 Policy, Security & Critical Infrastructure

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.