Broadband Breakfast Live Online Wednesday, April 7, 2021 – How to Spend Broadband Infrastructure
Panelists include Carri Bennet of of Womble Bond, Gary Bolton, Doug Brake, and Matt Wood of Free Press. Moderated by Drew Clark of Broadband Breakfast.
On the heels of the Biden Administration’s unveiling of the American Jobs Plan, Broadband Breakfast will convene a special Broadband Breakfast Live Online event to take the pulse of the broadband industry on the core components of the administration plan:
Tim White
- Build high-speed broadband infrastructure to reach 100 percent coverage. The administration’s plan prioritizes building “future proof” broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas so that we finally reach 100 percent high-speed broadband coverage.
- Promote transparency and competition. President Biden’s plan will promote price transparency and competition among internet providers, including by lifting barriers that prevent municipally-owned or affiliated providers and rural electric co-ops from competing on an even playing field with private providers, and requiring internet providers to clearly disclose the prices they charge.
- Reduce the cost of broadband internet service and promote more widespread adoption.
This measure is expected to allocate $100 billion for broadband infrastructure and adoption. This panel will consider and discuss the broadband parameters of the Biden plan.
Panelists:
- Doug Brake, Director of Broadband and Spectrum Policy, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF)
- Gary Bolton, President and CEO, the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA)
- Matt Wood, Vice President of Policy and General Counsel, Free Press
- Carri Bennet, Partner at Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP
- Drew Clark (moderator), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast
Doug Brake directs the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s work on broadband and spectrum policy. He writes extensively and speaks frequently to lawmakers, the news media, and other influential audiences on topics such as next-generation wireless, rural broadband infrastructure, and network neutrality. Brake is a recognized broadband policy expert, having testified numerous times before Congress, state legislatures, and regulatory commissions, as well as serving on the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Group.
Gary Bolton serves as president and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association — the largest trade association in the Americas dedicated to all-fiber-optic broadband. With more than three decades in the telecom industry, Bolton joined the Fiber Broadband Association as president and CEO in 2020 after serving on the association’s board as vice chairman, treasurer and vice chairs of public policy and marketing committees. Prior to taking the leadership role at the Fiber Broadband Association, he spent 11 years at ADTRAN serving as vice president of global marketing and government affairs.
Matt Wood currently serves as Vice President of Policy and General Counsel at Free Press, where he helps shape the policy team’s efforts to protect the open internet, prevent media concentration, promote affordable broadband deployment and safeguard press freedom. Before joining Free Press, he worked at the public interest law firm Media Access Project and in the communications practice groups of two private law firms in Washington, D.C. He has also served as an expert witness before Congress on multiple occasions.
Carri Bennet is an outspoken advocate for small rural carriers, having battled with regulators and large companies for more than 30 years to ensure that small rural businesses have a seat at the table and a strong voice in Washington, DC. Bennet launched her own successful boutique communications and technology law firm prior to joining Womble Bond Dickinson in its Washington, DC office, and she also serves as outside counsel for the Rural Wireless Association and earlier as General Counsel and de facto chief operating officer of an international wireless carrier. She represents her clients before the FCC, state regulatory agencies, the courts and Congress, and she regularly testifies before the FCC, Congress and the courts on rural wireless issues and speaks regularly at industry trade shows and legal seminars on cybersecurity, data privacy, spectrum policy, universal service funding reform, and business development and strategy issues for communications and technology companies.
