Operator Light Talks and keynotes announced for the world’s largest fiber broadband event

The Fiber Broadband Association today announced general session keynotes and Operator Light Talks planned for Fiber Connect 2023, August 20-23, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. Fiber Connect is the world’s largest fiber broadband event, and this year’s program will feature new themes and content styles. Attendees will access four days of elevated programming that explores the investment, deployment, and operation of next-generation gigabit broadband networks. Keynotes and Operator Light Talks will feature insight from AT&T, Consolidated Communications, EPB, Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, Google Fiber, Lumos Fiber, Nokia, NTIA, Ting Internet, and many more thought leaders from across the fiber broadband marketplace.

“Fiber Connect grows every year because we present the topics that matter most to network operators, broadband providers, municipalities, electric cooperatives, and others that are building fiber broadband networks to connect North America,” said Evann Freeman, EPB Director of Government Relations and Fiber Broadband Association Conference Committee Chair. “While the fiber broadband industry is experiencing its largest investment cycle ever, the Fiber Broadband Association is delivering content and networking opportunities to help guide the industry with best practices and explore what is possible once fiber networks reach everyone, everywhere.”

Operator Light Talks are a new addition to the Fiber Connect agenda this year. Each 18-minute Ted Talk-style keynote highlights how the operators are enabling disruption within their markets, with customers, or with emerging applications and services. The five Operator Light Talks include:

• Chris Sambar, President, AT&T
• Gaurav Juneja, President of Consumer, Consolidated Communications
• Jim Ingraham, VP, Strategic Research, EPB
• Dinni Jain, CEO, Google Fiber
• Derek Kelly, Vice President of Market Development, Lumos Fiber

The Fiber Broadband Association has also planned an all-star lineup of keynotes and general session panels that will explore the challenges and opportunities currently facing the fiber broadband industry, including:

• Opening Keynote presented by Eric Beightel, Executive Director, Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council
• Fireside Chat with Angela Thi Bennett, Digital Equity Director, NTIA
• Keynote by April McClain-Delaney, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, U.S. Department of Commerce, NTIA
• “Fiber Broadband Triple Check” panel, featuring Centranet, The Enterprise Project, Lumos Networks, Ting Internet, and US Ignite
• “Fiber ROI: Making Fiber a Win/Win/Win” panel, featuring Adtran, AFL, Broadband Money, Needham & Company, and Nokia
• “In-Home Experience” panel, featuring Calix, DZS, Plume, and Shentel
• Industry Leaders Roundtable on Workforce Development, featuring The Broadband Forum, National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE), National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), NTCA – The Broadband Association, and Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA)

Fiber Connect 2023 will also feature pre-conference workshops, Technology Deep Dives, Fiber Meet Ups, a Proof of Concept showcase, a sold-out expo hall, and the Fiber Broadband Association’s first State Broadband Summit. To learn more about Fiber Connect 2023 and to register, visit fiberconnect.fiberbroadband.org.

About the Fiber Broadband Association

The Fiber Broadband Association is the largest and only trade association that represents the complete fiber ecosystem of service providers, manufacturers, industry experts, and deployment specialists dedicated to the advancement of fiber broadband deployment and the pursuit of a world where communications are limitless, advancing quality of life and digital equity anywhere and everywhere. The Fiber Broadband Association helps providers, communities, and policy makers make informed decisions about how, where, and why to build better fiber broadband networks. Since 2001, these companies, organizations, and members have worked with communities and consumers in mind to build the critical infrastructure that provides the economic and societal benefits that only fiber can deliver. The Fiber Broadband Association is part of the Fibre Council Global Alliance, which is a platform of six global FTTH Councils in North America, LATAM, Europe, MEA, APAC, and South Africa. Learn more at fiberbroadband.org.

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