Fiber Connect 2025’s State Broadband Summit Will Outline the Future for Our Nation’s Infrastructure Investment

Critical state-level content culminates on Day Four at world's largest fiber broadband event

The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) today announced The State Broadband Summit will return to Fiber Connect on Wednesday, June 4, for a crucial exploration of the impact of broadband policy at the state level, including impacts to the NTIA BEAD program as state broadband offices put shovels in the ground. The State Broadband Summit at Fiber Connect 2025 gathers the entire fiber broadband ecosystem to discuss the path forward—to clear up misconceptions, address market misinformation, and put politics aside to focus on the impact of fiber broadband on our communities and the people they serve.

“Our Fiber Connect content is curated to address the current challenges and opportunities within the broadband industry. The State Broadband Summit is unique, specialized, and purpose-driven for anyone impacted by state broadband funding decisions,” said Evann Freeman, Fiber Broadband Association Board Member and Conference Committee Chair, and Vice President, Government & Community Relations at EPB of Chattanooga. “States need to be agile, knowledgeable, and prepared to move their networks forward as decisions are made on Capitol Hill and within the State Broadband Offices. Our State Broadband Summit will provide that wisdom – it is a ‘Can’t Miss’ opportunity at Fiber Connect.”

The State Broadband Summit agenda will include the following topics and speakers:

• State Broadband Officer Roundtable: Learn about the goals, plans, and how each state will leverage BEAD funding, as well as other federal and state programs, to best serve their state, communities, and people and ensure that no one is left behind. Moderated by Cisco, panelists include directors from the Arkansas, Kentucky, and Kansas state broadband offices.
• The Community Connection: How Fiber Impacts Economics and Opportunity: This important session will explore if a decision to use any option other than fiber could potentially leave a community behind. Industry experts from Fierce Network, the Colorado Broadband Office, Calix, Heartland Forward, and The Pew Charitable Trusts will run the numbers on this issue as the industry looks to leave no one behind.
• Fireside Chat: Mother Mayor I Deploy Fiber: Mayors from Danbury, Conn.; Charlottesville, Va.; and West Des Moines, Iowa, will share their perspectives on deploying fiber broadband and its potential long-term impact on the communities each serves.
• Taking it to the Streets: Where the Fiber Meets the Road: A group of distinguished construction and outside plant specialists from EPB, Ritter Communications, Peñasco Valley Telephone Cooperative, Inc., and GFiber will dig deep into the issues and challenges of the outside plant and share best practices, experiences, and challenges overcome.

Additional policy-focused content will be featured throughout Fiber Connect 2025. The Broadband Policy Symposium, June 3, is a dedicated string of sessions that will dig into the impact of various funding programs and layout the next stage of priorities across the deployment ecosystem.

Breakout sessions, June 2-3, will also feature broadband policy topics, including rural, urban, suburban economic development; connectivity priorities; tribal broadband; funding best practices; digital literacy initiatives; middle mile funding programs. Speakers include the NTIA; more than a dozen state, county, and community broadband development offices; at least ten broadband operators and service providers, and many more experts and innovators.

The full Fiber Connect 2025 agenda here. For details on Fiber Connect 2025 sponsorship, please contact Lucy Green at lgreen@fiberbroadband.org. To stay up to date on all Fiber Connect and FBA news, subscribe to the Fiber Forward Weekly newsletter here.

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 policymakers 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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