Fiber for Breakfast 2025 Week 2 – Louisiana’s Fiber Broadband First Mover Advantage

Louisiana’s broadband office understands the first mover advantage. It was the first state to be federally approved for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, first to receive funding from the American Rescue Plan and first in the country in how well the state is executing broadband programs. Its efforts will help ISPs establish broadband networks to 67,000 locations with $176M through the GUMBO grant program; it will connect 140,000 locations with $1.356B from the BEAD program; and it will deliver internet service to more than 175,000 homes and small businesses in rural Louisiana with $342M through the FCC’s RDOF. It is also helping local economies and job markets, with an estimated 5,000 jobs created for construction and maintenance of new broadband networks throughout the state. With 95.4% of its BEAD unserved and underserved locations to be served with fiber broadband projects, the broadband office is ensuring its communities have the capacity to thrive.

This week on Fiber for Breakfast, Gary welcomes Veneeth Iyengar, the Executive Director of Louisiana’s broadband initiative, ConnectLA, who will discuss the state’s broadband efforts and the first mover advantage. You won’t want to miss it.

With Special Guest:

Veneeth Iyengar, Executive Director, ConnectLA