Broadband Breakfast on March 26, 2025 - Broadband Programs Outside of the U.S.

While the U.S. continues its push for broadband expansion through government-funded initiatives like the BEAD program, other countries are pursuing their own strategies to bridge the digital divide. What lessons can the U.S. learn from international broadband programs? How do funding mechanisms, regulatory frameworks, and technology choices compare? Join us for an insightful discussion on how different countries are tackling broadband deployment, digital inclusion, and infrastructure challenges.

Global Leaders Share Insights on Broadband Success, Open Access

Fiber deployment emerges as a common thread despite vastly different market conditions.

Broadband BreakfastBroadband Breakfast

Panelists

• Mikael Philipsson, CEO, COS Systems
• Petrus Potgieter, Professor in Decision Sciences, University of South Africa
• James Carsley, Senior Consultant, FarrPoint
• Drew Clark (moderator), CEO and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Panelist Resources

Sweden’s Open Access Fiber Deployment Offers Lessons for U.S. Strategy

The country boasts internet penetration with 98% served with Gigabit symmetrical speeds.

Broadband BreakfastJericho Casper

Mikael Philipsson is CEO of COS Systems, a BSS/OSS software provider for broadband operators to enable zero touch automation and Open Access. He has extensive experience in fiber infrastructure rollouts as he for 18 years had leading roles as CTO, Sales director and CEO when developing IP-Only, a fiber infrastructure operator in the Nordics. From 2013 under ownership of EQT he led a large FTTH rollout to millions of homes challenging the legacy large telecom operators. The initiative kicked off the fiberrace in Sweden, and now, 10 years later 98% of all homes and businesses have access to fiber (1/1 Gbit/s) and the broadband operator landscape looks very different compared to before the fiberrace started.

Petrus Potgieter is Professor in Decision Sciences, University of South Africa and a researcher at the Institute for Technology and Network Economics. He earned a doctorate in mathematics, has extensive experience in the financial modelling of telecommunications, and conducts research on the impact of new technologies to the economy, policy and society, including a project with the European Union on Computing with Infinite Data. Petrus is an alumnus of Kent State University and the University of Pretoria, board member of the International Telecommunications Society, and editorial board member of the Journal of Telecommunications Policy. Petrus has published studies of rural broadband in the USA and telecom policy challenges in emerging countries.

James Carsley is a Senior Consultant at FarrPoint, a global connectivity advisory firm specialising in digital infrastructure, telehealth, and 5G. He leads FarrPoint’s support of ‘Project Gigabit,’ the UK government’s $6.2 billion initiative to bring gigabit-capable broadband to hard-to-reach areas. Before joining FarrPoint, James spent a decade at BT Openreach, as Programme Director of large-scale broadband projects worth over $750 million in partnership with the UK and devolved governments.

Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing tool to collect and verify broadband data left unpublished by the Federal Communications Commission. As CEO and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media community advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative.