Bandwidth Hawk
Community development sessions at Broadband Communities Summit West in San Diego will go beyond handwringing to offer concrete advice.
By: Steven S. Ross, Broadband Communities
The American West is no stranger to fiber optics and broadband — Xerox Palo Alto Research Labs invented Ethernet in 1973, NORAD first connected computers with fiber at Cheyenne Mountain in 1975, and GTE used fiber to transmit live phone calls in Long Beach in 1977. Not-for-profit public utilities districts in Washington State were building countywide community fiber 20 years ago, and open-access community broadband was being pioneered by many, including UTOPIA in Utah.
The challenges of low population density and a mobile population, agricultural productivity, and difficult terrain led to widespread adoption of cellular and point-to-point wireless throughout the region as well and has now led to growing adoption of Starlink satellite dishes.
Now the region, armed with its own state funds and federal programs including the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program ($42.5 billion plus extra money for tribal programs), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ReConnect Loan and Grant Program, and other initiatives, is adapting to the latest challenges in diverse and promising ways.
The five key themes of Broadband Communities Summit West on October 30-31 will help participants tackle the job. At stake: economic growth and resiliency, energy conservation, and the well-being of neglected and tribal communities.
The state and local strategies are diverse indeed – from California making it cheaper and easier for communities to borrow and match federal grants for broadband, to Wyoming’s building of new data centers at remote mines, powered by natural gas that would otherwise be flared. Great for the West, and a useful model for the rest of the country as well – it is cheaper to transport megabytes across vast distances than it is to pipe natural gas, carry coal, or transmit electrical power.
Broadband Community Summit West’s agenda highlights the range of speakers packed into two days. Nothing is off the table. They’ll be offering great advice on overcoming obstacles to attain available money, demand for skilled workers, various private-public partnership models, and more.
Community development sessions go beyond handwringing to offer concrete advice on closing the digital divide, affordability issues, and deploying to remote, remote, remote communities. But I’m struck by the sessions exploring technical and financial opportunities for all sectors of real estate – multifamily, student housing, senior living communities, subdivisions – in a region where broadband can help bridge the gap between high housing costs, shortages, and abandoned or struggling rural property.
I’m also struck by innovative new technologies and new uses for technologies already in existence. There are great sessions to attend but looking at the exhibitor list I see many exhibitors that are new to our broadband summits.
To read about the impressive list of exhibitors that will be attending Broadband Communities Summit West, click here.
Visit this page to get the full exhibitor list.
About Broadband Communities Summit West
Broadband Communities Summit West is the newest addition to the Broadband Communities event portfolio, part of Total Telecom. The conference series offers leading events for community leaders, property owners, network infrastructure builders and telco service providers to meet and discuss strategies for delivering connectivity for communities all over the United States. Click here to get tickets and learn more about Broadband Communities Summit West.
How is the US connectivity landscape shifting in 2024? Join the operators and their communities in discussion at Broadband Communities Summit West live in San Diego.
