Broadband Breakfast on June 17, 2026 – 1876-1926: The Telephone and the Transatlantic Cable

Join Broadband Breakfast for the first installment of our three-part series celebrating the 250th Anniversary of American Independence, and the 150th Anniversary of American Telecommunications.

The first installment will explore the half-century from 1876 to 1926. This is the era in which American communications were transformed by the telephone and the rapid spread of long-distance cables. Beginning with Alexander Graham Bell's patent on the telephone on March 7, 1876, and the founding of Bell Telephone the following year, this era saw the rise of AT&T, the buildout of nationwide copper networks, and the completion of the first transcontinental telephone line in 1914. Submarine and overland cables stitched together commerce, government and family life at unprecedented speed, laying the physical and regulatory groundwork for everything that followed. Our panel will examine how the policy debates, monopoly questions, and infrastructure investments of this period continue to shape today's broadband landscape. 

Broadband Breakfast on June 17, 2026 – 1876-1926: The Telephone and the Transatlantic Cable

Broadband Breakfast kicks off a three-part series on 250 years of American independence and 150 years of American telecommunications.

Broadband BreakfastBroadband Breakfast

1927-1976: Broadcasting, Cable and the Creation of the Media

The second installment of Broadband Breakfast’s three-part series covers 1927–1976, when broadcasting and cable created the modern American media.

Broadband BreakfastBroadband Breakfast

1977-2026: Computing, the Internet and Artificial Intelligence

The final installment of Broadband Breakfast’s three-part series covers 1977–2026, when computing, the internet, and artificial intelligence reshaped American life.

Broadband BreakfastBroadband Breakfast

Panelists

• Panelists have been invited
• Drew Clark (moderator), CEO and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast