NTIA, Meta, TiVo, The Pew Charitable Trusts and Farm Fresh Broadband Author to Keynote at Fiber Connect 2022

Fiber Connect 2022 is where stakeholders meet to discuss fiber’s unlimited capacity and endless possibilities

The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) today announced its Fiber Connect 2022 keynote speakers as the nation heads into a historic and transformative fiber broadband expansion. Fiber Connect 2022 will be held June 12-15, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn., and the event is expected to host over 2,500 attendees. Headliners include executives from NTIA, Meta, TiVo, The Pew Charitable Trusts and the author of “Farm Fresh Broadband,” representing the growing ecosystem of public, non-profit and private-sector entities that are building the next generation of broadband infrastructure and unlocking its endless possibilities.

Andy Berke, NTIA’s Special Representative for Broadband, will deliver the conference’s opening keynote on Monday, June 13. Berke joined NTIA in 2022 after serving as the Mayor of Chattanooga from 2013 to 2021 where he led transformative initiatives, including the establishment of an Innovation District, the Tech Goes Home program, as well as a program to provide high-speed broadband at no cost to every family with a child on free or reduced lunch — the first community in the country with such a benefit.

Also presenting on Monday is Randy Brogle, Meta’s Manager of Fiber Infrastructure Solutions. Brogle will discuss the Metaverse and how unlocking the future will require partnerships and collaboration across the entire connectivity ecosystem of equipment vendors, service providers and applications suppliers.

Tuesday, June 14th’s keynotes will be led by Kevin Lenhart, Senior Vice President and General Manager of PayTV Business at Xperi Corporation—the company that owns TiVo. Lenhart will discuss TiVo’s role for broadband operators to help attract, retain and engage subscribers leveraging machine learning and entertainment expertise to deepen engagement with content and services.

Also on Tuesday, Kathryn de Wit, Project Director of Broadband Access Initiative at The Pew Charitable Trusts will discuss the non-profit’s findings and efforts to close the digital divide by accelerating progress to increase the availability of high-speed, reliable and affordable internet through research, policy change, accountability, direct support to states and stakeholder engagement.

To conclude the conference on Wednesday, June 15, Dr. Christopher Ali, Associate Professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia and author of Farm Fresh Broadband: The Politics of Rural Connectivity, will deliver his keynote that explores the complex territory of U.S. rural broadband policy along with the progress and hurdles that remain in closing the digital divide.

“The challenges and opportunities our industry faces as we look to take fiber further are complex and will require the best minds from across all aspects of the fiber broadband ecosystem to make the current multi-billion-dollar investment cycle impactful and successful,” said Gary Bolton, President and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association. “We’re bringing that collective intelligence to Fiber Connect 2022 so everyone has access to the tools, insights and expertise they need to ensure that every community can reach its full potential in today’s Gigabit Economy.”

Fiber Connect 2022 is where the industry will meet to discuss, debate and share information and trends shaping a world of unlimited bandwidth with unlimited possibilities. The conference includes presentations from leading experts representing the companies meeting broadband capacity demand, policy and regulatory thought leaders, think tanks, state broadband offices, leading service providers, municipal and utility broadband experts, and media and analysts from across the fiber broadband ecosystem.

In addition to the standalone keynotes mentioned above, the Fiber Connect 2022 conference will also feature the following keynote panels:

• Federal Focus: Bridging the Digital Divide, featuring USDA Rural Development, USAC, CostQuest Associates, DZS, Nokia
• State of the States: Ensuring Fiber Reaches Everyone, moderated by Broadband Communities Magazine, featuring National Tribal Telecommunications Association, Connect Maine, NTIA, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, Georgia Technology Authority, Calix
• Everywhere Fiber Connects, moderated by Lightwave, featuring AT&T, Frontier Communications, Nex-Tech, Windstream
• Fiber and the Social Good, moderated by OnTrac, featuring C-Spire, Office of Educational Technology, GVTC Communications, Clearfield
• The Utility of Fiber: Looking Beyond the Smart Grid, moderated by Telecompetitor, featuring OzarkGo, Cullman Electric Cooperative, BrightRidge, Seven States Power Corporation, Craighead Electric Coop
• Fiber Broadband: Economic Enablement at Light Speed, moderated by Fierce Telecom, featuring National Association of Counties, EPB, Lumos/North State, Adtran
• Industry Leaders Roundtable, moderated by Kelley Drye & Warren, featuring NTCA, NRECA, CTA, ACA, FBA
• Municipal Fiber: How Communities Use Fiber to Thrive, moderated by US Ignite, featuring Tennessee Economic & Community Development, City of Fort Collins, Holland Board of Public Works, Ting Internet, Plume

Fiber Connect 2022’s knowledge-rich content also includes a Proof-of-Concept demonstration program, pre-conference workshops, FBA’s Fiber OpTIC Train the Trainer program, networking events and a sold-out Expo show floor.

Registration for Fiber Connect 2022 is now open and can be found here. Companies interested in sponsoring Fiber Connect 2022 should contact Lucy Green at lgreen@fiberbroadband.org.

About the Fiber Broadband Association

The Fiber Broadband Association is the largest and only trade association in the Americas dedicated to the pursuit of all- fiber-optic network infrastructure to the home, to the business and to everywhere. The Fiber Broadband Association helps providers make informed decisions about how, where, and why to build better broadband networks with fiber optics while working with its members to lead the organization forward, collaborate with industry allies and propel the deployment of fiber networks. Since 2001, these companies, organizations and members have worked with communities and consumers in mind to build a better broadband future here and around the world. The Fiber Broadband Association is part of the Fibre Council Global Alliance which is a platform of six global FTTH Councils in the Americas, LATAM, Europe, MENA, Africa and APAC. Learn more at fiberbroadband.org.

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