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Full Schedule

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Monday, May 18, 2026
7:00 AM - 8:00 AM ET
LATAM Breakfast Meet Up

7:00 AM - 8:00 AM ET

LATAM Breakfast Meet Up

8:00 AM - 12:05 PM ET
General Session: Kickoff and Community

8:00 AM - 8:05 AM ET

Welcome to Fiber Connect

Speaker: Jessica Koch – CBSOregon

8:05 AM - 8:10 AM ET

Welcome to Florida/Orlando

8:10 AM - 8:30 AM ET

State of the Association and Board/Committee Chair Recognition

Speaker: Gary Bolton – FBA

8:30 AM - 8:40 AM ET

Chairwoman's Award

Speaker: Ash Brown – Adtran

8:40 AM - 8:45 AM ET

Keynote Introduction (Platinum Sponsor)

8:45 AM - 9:10 AM ET

Opening Keynote

9:10 AM - 9:30 AM ET

Operator Light Talk

Speaker: Shazia Sobani – Telus

9:30 AM - 10:00 AM ET

Coming to Americas: Connecting Communities from Tip to Tip

Moderator: Juanita Clark – Digital Council Africa

Panelist: Kalai Kalaichelvan – PomeGran

Panelist: Greg Wilson (he/him/his) – Ripple Fiber

Panelist: Wanda Perez – Liberty of Puerto Rico & USVI

10:00 AM - 10:30 AM ET

Back to the Future: Early Gig Network Providers

Moderator: Robert Conger – Adtran

Panelist: Katie Espeseth (she/her/hers) – EPB

Panelist: Conley Freeman – C Spire

Panelist: Jenna Wandres – GFiber

10:30 AM - 10:50 AM ET

Operator Light Talk: Taking Rural Vitality Light Years Ahead

Speaker: Claude Aiken (he/him/his) – NextLink Internet

10:50 AM - 11:20 AM ET

Tomorrowland: Building Smart Communities

Moderator: Roger Timmerman – UTOPIA Fiber

Panelist: Teresa McGaughey (she/her/hers) – Calix

Panelist: Todd Heyne – ALLO Fiber

Panelist: Derek Kelly – Lumos

Panelist: Paul Fleming – Wecom Fiber

11:20 AM - 12:00 PM ET

Fiber Family Feud Preliminaries

12:00 PM - 12:05 PM ET

Closing Remarks

Speaker: Jessica Koch – CBSOregon

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET
Women of Fiber Connect Lunch
Speaker: Abby Rogers – YMCA of the USA
Speaker: Ramsey Alwin – National Council on Aging

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET

Women of Fiber Connect Lunch

Speaker: Abby Rogers – YMCA of the USA

Speaker: Ramsey Alwin – National Council on Aging

12:00 PM - 6:00 PM ET
Expo Hall Open

12:00 PM - 6:00 PM ET

Expo Hall Open

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET
Breakout Sessions

1:00 PM - 1:40 PM ET

Building Fiber Connectivity to Support AI

Moderator: Roger Entner – Recon Analytics

Panelist: Pete Bley – Ciena

Panelist: Joe W. Baeumel – KGPCo

Panelist: David Eckard – Nokia

Panelist: Jordan Gross – Lumen

Data Center

1:00 PM - 1:40 PM ET

Construction Considerations with New and Existing Builds

Moderator: Mike Render – RVA LLC

Panelist: Josh Summit – Shentel/GloFiber

Panelist: Patrick Thibeault – The Broadband Group

Panelist: Adam Kersnowski – AirWorks Solutions Inc

Panelist: Brandon Hines – Velox

Outside Plant Considerations

1:00 PM - 1:40 PM ET

Creating a Framework for Operational Simplicity and Service Scale

Moderator: Heather Moyer (she/her/hers) – HNM Systems

Panelist: Hani Elmalky – GFiber

Panelist: Mik Cox – Plume

Panelist: Katherine Latham – Talman Consultants, LLC

Panelist: Bill Brungardt (he/him/his) – BHC Engineering

Service Provider Ecosystem

1:00 PM - 1:40 PM ET

Engineering Best Practices

Speaker: Scott Casey – Spatial Business Systems

Speaker: Alli Bone – Horrocks

FBA Research Read Out

1:00 PM - 1:40 PM ET

Identifying Gaps in Existing Network Footprints

Moderator: Ron Westfall – HyperFRAME Research

Panelist: Patrick Mulhearn – Ripple Fiber

Panelist: Paul Breakman (he/him/his) – Adtran

Panelist: Lauren Marcucci (she/her/hers) – BHC

Panelist: Chandler Vaughan (he/him/his) – Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development

Deployment Best Practices

1:00 PM - 1:40 PM ET

Key Factors in Driving Subscriber Growth and Reducing Churn

Moderator: John Fletcher (he/him/his) – S&P Global

Panelist: Kevin Bush – Surf Internet

Panelist: Teresa McGaughey (she/her/hers) – Calix

Panelist: Josh Orlowitz – Bonfire

Panelist: Ned Brody – Actifai

Fiber Economics

1:00 PM - 1:40 PM ET

Local Advocacy and Legislative Partnerships in Rural Deployments

Moderator: Colby Humphrey – The Pew Charitable Trusts

Panelist: Mitch Hibbard (he/him/his) – Peñasco Valley Telephone Cooperative, Inc.

Panelist: Evan Feinman – Feinman Strategic Network

Panelist: Joanne Hovis (she/her/hers) – CTC Technology & Energy

Panelist: Kevin Czaicki – Millennium

Local Considerations

1:00 PM - 1:40 PM ET

Scaling the Open Access Model

Moderator: Jaimie Lenderman (she/her/hers) – Omdia

Panelist: Jeff Erwin – UTOPIA Fiber

Panelist: Jason Jenkins – Silverlight Fiber Networks

Panelist: Jeff Gasper – Southern Tier Network

Panelist: Adam Puckett (he/him/his) – COS Systems

Open Access

1:50 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Common Construction Roadblocks and How to Avoid Them

Moderator: Hayden Beeson – ISE Magazine

Panelist: Jeffrey Beavers – National Electrical Contractors Association

Panelist: Luiz Fuschini – Nedia Fiber

Panelist: Chris Brooks (he/him/his) – GoNetspeed

Panelist: Jason Moore – RouteThis

Outside Plant Considerations

1:50 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Connecting Technology Innovation to Real-World Business Outcomes

Moderator: Brad J. Randall (he/him/his) – Total Telecom

Panelist: Meaghan Kappel (she/her/hers) – PwC

Panelist: Ashley Travers (she/her/hers) – KGPco

Panelist: George Stegall – Kinetic Ventures

Panelist: Anis Khemakhem – Clearfield

Fiber Economics

1:50 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Edge Compute and Digital Transformation Across Sectors

Moderator: Sean P. Buckley (he/him/his) – Lightwave/Broadband Tech Report

Panelist: Jesse Martin – Dura-Line

Panelist: Stephen Rose – Render Networks

Panelist: Rob Worden – Vision Net

Panelist: David Tanis – AFL

Data Center

1:50 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Improving Project Efficiency through Collaboration, Clarity, and Proactive Engagement

Moderator: Colby Humphrey – The Pew Charitable Trusts

Panelist: Laura Kocher – Great Plains Communications

Panelist: Amanda Griffith (she/her/hers) – 123NET

Panelist: Louis Panzer (he/him/his) – NC811.org

Panelist: Collin Rose – DayStarr Communications

Local Considerations

1:50 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Leveraging Federal Programs to Scale Connectivity

Moderator: Craig Corbin – Broadband Universe

Panelist: HeidiJoy Harnegie – MaxxSouth

Panelist: Joe Jensen – Corning

Panelist: Jade Piros de Carvalho – Socket Fiber

Panelist: Loren Brace – UtiliSource, LLC

Deployment Best Practices

1:50 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Local Permitting for Local Fiber Network Projects

FBA Research Read Out

1:50 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Permitting Best Practices (Local Permitting for Local Fiber Network Projects: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)

Speaker: Eddie D. Lowe (he/him/his) – Corning

FBA Research Read Out

1:50 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Public/Private Partnerships and Open Access Networks

Moderator: Ryan Koontz – Needham & Company

Panelist: Natasha Eyler – NoaNet

Panelist: Pete Hoffswell – Holland Board of Public Works

Panelist: Mitchell Shook – Advanced Stream

Panelist: Amanda Molina – JSI

Open Access

1:50 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Teamwork Dreamwork: Know What You Need

Moderator: Jack S. Burton – BSP

Panelist: David Freytag – TEC

Panelist: Rick Perkins – GOCare

Panelist: Jordan Roberts – Unico

Panelist: Marc Campagna – gaiia

Service Provider Ecosystem

1:00 PM - 4:30 PM ET
Smart Community Expo Theater

1:00 PM - 4:30 PM ET

Smart Community Expo Theater

1:00 PM - 1:40 PM ET

Developing Anchor Institutions

Moderator: Butch Brock (he/him/his) – Dragonfly Internet

Panelist: Laura King – Utopia Fiber

Panelist: Zach McLemore – CVEC Fiber

1:45 PM - 2:00 PM ET

Sponsor Demo

2:10 PM - 2:50 PM ET

Public Safety Services and Fiber

Moderator: Keely Portway – Fibre Systems

Panelist: David Workman – Gateway Fiber

Panelist: Nicole Cottle – Utopia Fiber

3:00 PM - 3:15 PM ET

Sponsor Demo

3:30 PM - 4:10 PM ET

Community Economics and Fiber Broadband

Moderator: Kimberly Maki – Broadband Library Magazine

Panelist: Donald Ray (he/him/his) – BAM Broadband

Panelist: Kim Smithers (she/her/hers) – IQFiber

4:15 PM - 4:30 PM ET

Sponsor Demo

2:30 PM - 5:30 PM ET
The C-Suite Forum

2:30 PM - 5:30 PM ET

The C-Suite Forum

2:30 PM - 2:35 PM ET

Welcome

Speaker: Gary Bolton – FBA

2:35 PM - 2:40 PM ET

Sponsor Welcome

2:40 PM - 3:00 PM ET

Keynote: Market Valuation and the Impact of AI Infrastructure

Speaker: Ryan Koontz – Needham & Company

3:00 PM - 3:15 PM ET

European View and Update

Speaker: Vincent Garnier – FTTH Council Europe

3:15 PM - 3:40 PM ET

Fireside Chat: Quantum's Leap Light Years Ahead

Moderator: Gary Bolton – FBA

Panelist: Jacky Wu – Brightspeed

3:40 PM - 4:10 PM ET

Public Safety: Fighting Fire with Fiber

Moderator: Bobbie J. Gilbert – Ripple Fiber

Panelist: Todd Way (he/him/his) – Douglas Fast Net

Panelist: Jason Thune – Hawaiian Telcom

4:10 PM - 4:35 PM ET

Fireside Chat: Lucky LEO and What Comes Next

Moderator: Kathryn de Wit (she/her/hers) – The Pew Charitable Trusts

Panelist: Christopher Ali, PhD (he/him/his) – Penn State University

4:35 PM - 4:40 PM ET

Closing Remarks

Speaker: Gary Bolton – FBA

4:40 PM - 5:30 PM ET

Networking Reception

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET
Network Demands: Dream a Little Stream

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET

Network Demands: Dream a Little Stream

3:00 PM - 3:05 PM ET

Welcome

Host: Quinn Jordan

3:05 PM - 3:25 PM ET

Sponsor Keynote

3:25 PM - 3:55 PM ET

Fireside Chat

Moderator: Craig Corbin – Broadband Universe

Panelist: Bill Routt – TiVo

3:55 PM - 4:30 PM ET

Panel: Game On! Latency, Jitter, and the Gamer Life

Moderator: Alzbeta Fellenbaum (she/her/hers) – Omdia

Panelist: Antwon Alsobrook – eCommunity Holdings

Panelist: Alex King (he/him/his) – Blue Ridge Mountain EMC

Panelist: Scott Sampson – Blueprint Broadband

Panelist: Ari Schnitzer – Fidium Fiber

Streaming

4:30 PM - 4:55 PM ET

Fireside Chat: Game On!: Building Brighter Futures

Panelist: Tali Kulbeda – Brightspeed

4:55 PM - 5:00 PM ET

Closing Remarks

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET
Precision Agriculture: Seeding Broadband Futures

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET

Precision Agriculture: Seeding Broadband Futures

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM ET
Women of Fiber Connect Meet Up

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM ET

Women of Fiber Connect Meet Up