Vincent Garnier, Director General FTTH Council Europe, will discuss the current status of Fiber in Europe and the key initiatives of the FTTH Council in Europe and of the Fiber Council Global Alliance. Fiber is having a significant positive impact on economic development, sustainability, and is elevating the quality of life for communities around the world. Gary and Vincent will be joining Fiber for Breakfast from the FCGA Global Summit in Kuala Lumpur and will share the latest global stats, research, and trends for Fiber deployment.

Special Guest:
Vincent Garnier, Director General, FTTH Council Europe

Join Joe Hickey as he delves into the key strategies for successful broadband deployment in challenging environments. In this focused discussion, Joe will explore customer-centric approaches, innovative planning, and practical solutions for overcoming obstacles like regulatory delays and supply chain disruptions. As President of PomeGran, a company dedicated to innovative and community-driven connectivity solutions, Joe will share valuable insights to ensure fiber deployments are grounded in best practices and set up for success.

Special Guest:

• Joe Hickey, President, PomeGran Inc.

Ron Westfall, Research Director, will share insights and takeaways from The Futurum Group’s AI Intelligence studies that impact the fiber ecosystem. Ron will spotlight how organizations are deploying AI services, how organizations plan to spend on AI, top AI solution selection criteria, and key AI market trends. To improve business outcomes and customer experiences, fiber organizations, such as fiber operators, must administer complex architectures that provide greater capacity and fulfill evolving customer needs. Greater AI, including GenAI, adoption can enable fiber organizations to streamline operations, optimize costs, and improve time-to-value.

Fiber ecosystem players are strengthening their investments in AI, including AIOps and machine learning, to meet major goals such as operations automation, improving customer support alongside workforce experience, advancing autonomous networks capabilities, boosting field tech efficiencies, as well as augmenting data processing and analytics, bandwidth management and designing fiber network routes. Ron will provide perspective on why he sees progress in how fiber organizations are fulfilling strategic objectives by using AI capabilities to enable the delivery of experience-first network services and attain organization-wide agility throughout operations and business processes.

Special Guest:

Ron Westfall, Research Director, Futurum Group

Jeff Heynen, VP of Broadband Access and Home Networking, will share details from Dell’Oro’s recently published forecast on PON and DOCSIS equipment spending. Jeff will highlight spending and technology trends in the North American market, as well as how vendors are preparing for an anticipated rebound in purchasing beginning later this year, thanks in part to BEAD and other large-scale subsidization efforts.

Special Guest:

Jeff Heynen, Vice President, Broadband Access and Home Networking, Dell’Oro Group

Gigabit Fiber Can Add $326B to US GDP – Bandwidth Is All About Efficiency And Productivity.

Many have heard the argument that “symmetrical Gigabit bandwidth is mostly just marketing hype… there are very few, if any, applications that require a Gigabit today”.

Applications simply being functional misses the real point! The question is how effectively and how efficiently applications will run.

A new study demonstrates, via solid scientific evidence, that with higher bandwidth comes greater efficiency… and fewer wasted human hours. A user at 100/20 Mbps wastes about 18 minutes per day (adding many increments of a few seconds each) versus a user at 700/500 Mbps (an example of a gigabit customer constrained by Wi-Fi etc.) This time saved obviously has significant financial benefits – to both the individual and the country.

This session will discuss the evidence behind the study, and its full implications for fiber and broadband.

Special Guests:

John George, Sr Director, Solutions Engineering & Professional Services, OFS

Michael Render, Founder and CEO. RVA LLC

This week’s episode of Fiber for Breakfast comes to you from the main stage of Fiber Connect 2024 in Nashville, TN, or as it is known to hockey fans, “Smashville”. Watch out for flying catfish as Gary welcomes Sean Henry, CEO of the National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators and Bridgestone Arena, for a special in person conversation.

A testament to Sean Henry’s leadership, Bridgestone Arena was named 2024’s “Arena of the Year” by the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and ranked among the top five U.S. arenas for ticket sales in a 2023 Pollstar / Billboard report, and the Nashville Predators have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs eight times in the last nine seasons. Sean Henry has been recognized in Nashville Business Journal’s annual list of “Most Admired CEOs in Tennessee” multiple times and was awarded “The Tennessean Sports Person of the Year” in 2016.

Sean and Gary will discuss hockey, the importance community engagement and outreach, and, of course, the invaluable role of technology and broadband for cultivating a passionate fanbase and developing a world class sports and events venue in the heart of Music City.

Special Guest:

Sean Henry, CEO, NHL’s Nashville Predators & Bridgestone Arena

This week on Fiber for Breakfast, Gary is joined by Sheppard Mullin’s Dave Thomas and Ryan Roberts who will discuss the first BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program) draft agreement out of Colorado, and important compliance preparation information for FBA members.

Special Guests:

• Ryan Roberts, Partner, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

• Dave Thomas, Partner, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Subscriber perception of service quality has new ramifications as the FCC has begun requiring internet service providers (ISPs) to publish “Consumer Broadband Labels” for each of their individual service tiers. Large ISPs began displaying them in April. By October, all ISPs will be required to provide transparency through these labels that include pricing, data caps, bundling, and “typical” network performance metrics.

The network performance being delivered to a subscriber’s address can be markedly different from what people living in that household actually experience. Concerns about last mile connectivity can extend to concerns about the last few feet. When there is not a direct wired connection, aspects such as distance to the router, signal interference, equipment age, and more can significantly degrade throughput and latency.

In this discussion, we will cover the key differences in these measurements for regulatory compliance, competitive intelligence, and service validation. Customer perception will continue to be an essential factor in how subscribers value their service. Having third-party validation of the actual network performance being delivered to households can maximize the listed claims of “typical” performance on labels while proving consumer value, reducing churn, and offering protection from unjustified accusations.

Special Guest:

Bryan Darr, VP – Government Affairs, Ookla

For decades, municipal broadband operations have faced restrictions and barriers that make establishing and maintaining community broadband networks costly, difficult, and unsustainable. Despite these challenges, municipal broadband has exploded in recent years, with 47 new community networks coming online since 2021. Yet, roadblocks, which hinder municipal broadband networks in substantial ways, persist in many states.

This week, Gary is joined by Tyler Cooper, Editor-in-chief of BroadbandNow, who will share BroadbandNow’s latest research on municipal broadband and discuss the importance of community networks for addressing the digital divide.

Special Guest:

Tyler Cooper, Editor-In-Chief, BroadbandNow

Learn about BroadbandNow’s findings in the research report – Municipal Broadband Remains Roadblocked In 16 States – BroadbandNow

This week Gary sits down for a conversation with Jimmy Todd, the Chairman of FBA’s Board of Directors. Jimmy, the CEO and General Manager of Kansas based provider, Nex-Tech, will discuss the opportunities and challenges bringing fiber broadband to rural communities, how fiber enables precision agriculture, and other timely topics.

Join FBA Marketing Committee members Kimberly Biddy, Ray Monasterski, Katherine Songster, and NPS expert Mike Render for an exploration of the Net Promoter Score (NPS). This Fiber for Breakfast episode will introduce a new NPS initiative led by the FBA Marketing Committee that will identify NPS recommendations. Learn more about the history of NPS and the unique opportunity it presents for network operators, equipment and software vendors, and consulting and engineering firms to elevate the customer experience across the entire broadband ecosystem.

Special Guests:

Kimberly Biddy, Manager of Social, Digital, and Traditional Media Brand Strategies, EPB

Ray Monasterski, Business Development, ASK

Mike Render, RVA LLC Market Research & Consulting

Katherine Songster, Communications Director, Harry – an integrated marketing agency

Fiber Connect 2024 is right around the corner, and we cannot wait to see you in Nashville July 28th – July 31st.

This week on Fiber for Breakfast, Gary welcomes Evann Freeman, Chairman of the 2024 Conference Committee, and Rich Williams, Conference Program Director, for a preview of this year’s show.

The focus of Fiber Connect 2024 is “Accelerating Our Fiber Future” as we embark on the most exciting fiber broadband expansion period our industry has seen. In addition to familiar favorites like the Operator Light Talks, The State Broadband Summit, The C Suite Forum, The Broadband Forum Technology Deep Dives, and the Women in Fiber luncheon, this year’s show adds new programs such as the Overbuilder Toolkit, Broadband Policy Symposium, and the Award Luncheon. Of course, there will also be exciting networking events and parties with plenty of live musical performances from some of Music City’s emerging stars.

Join us Wednesday, June 19th at 10:00 AM ET for this exciting sneak peek of what to expect at Fiber Connect 2024!

Special Guests:

Rich Williams, Conference Program Director, Fiber Connect
Evann Freeman, Vice President, Government & Community Relations, EPB