Broadband Breakfast for Lunch on January 12, 2022 — The Agenda of Internet and Tech Stakeholders

With 2021 in the rearview mirror, Broadband Breakfast will take the pulse of telecom, media and technology industry stakeholders. What’s on their agenda for 2022?

Infrastructure Money Must Go to Better Networks — Even If in Areas with Existing Infrastructure

Some are warning that federal infrastructure money should not go toward subsidizing old networks.

Broadband BreakfastMegan Boswell

Early in the year, implementation of the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act will dominate many broadband groups’ regulatory bandwidth. But what of Congress and of the Federal Communications Commission? Will net neutrality be back on the agenda, and when? What role will debates about big technology companies’ market dominance play on legislation dealing with online privacy and the regulation of social media? And what do entertainment industry players hope for in the New Year? Join us IN PERSON or LIVE ONLINE as Broadband Breakfast returns to its traditional role as the preeminent monthly gathering place for Washington discussions about broadband policy and internet technology.

Panelists

• Matt Polka, President and CEO, America’s Communications Association Connects
• Chip Pickering, CEO, INCOMPAS
• Claude Aiken, CEO, Wireless Internet Service Providers Association
• Drew Clark (moderator), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Matt Polka is the President and CEO of ACA Connects – America’s Communications Association (ACAC), a 700-member Washington, D.C., trade and federal advocacy association of independent, smaller- and medium-sized broadband, cable and phone businesses. ACACmembers serve more than 10million subscribers in smaller/rural markets and competitive areas in all 50 states. Matt has been with the organization since 1993.

Chip Pickering is the CEO of INCOMPAS and has served in that role since 2014. He is also a former representative of Mississippi’s 3rd congressional district. He holds a BBA from the University of Mississippi and an MBA from Baylor University.

Claude Aiken is CEO of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA), an association representing thousands of fixed wireless providers. In the decade prior, Aiken worked at the Federal Communications Commission as an advisor to Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, as well as in various staff attorney roles and in senior leadership positions in the Wireline Bureau and Office of General Counsel. He graduated from New York Law School as a John Marshall Harlan Scholar specializing in information and technology law.

Drew Clark is the Editor and Publisher of BroadbandBreakfast.com and a nationally-respected telecommunications attorney. Drew brings experts and practitioners together to advance the benefits provided by broadband. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, he served as head of a State Broadband Initiative, the Partnership for a Connected Illinois. He is also the President of the Rural Telecommunications Congress.