Broadband Breakfast on October 23, 2024 - Satellite Broadband and BEAD
Has the tide truly turned for satellite broadband?
In 2022, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program largely excluded satellite broadband from its Notice of Funding Opportunity, due to reliability concerns over the technology's nascent state. But recent guidance from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has cracked the door open, allowing alternative technologies like satellite broadband to compete for BEAD funding in high-cost areas - provided they can meet the program’s performance standards. How will fiber and wireless projects be impacted? How will the BEAD program be affected?
Broadband Breakfast
Panelists
- Gary Bolton, President & CEO, Fiber Broadband Association
- David Zumwalt, President & CEO, WISPA - Broadband Without Boundaries
- Brian Allenby, Senior Director of Program Operations, Maine Connectivity Authority
- Martin Marshall, Senior Sales Engineer, Eutelsat OneWeb
- Ted Hearn (moderator), Managing Editor, Broadband Breakfast
Panelist resources:
Jake Neenan
Ari Bertenthal
Gary Bolton serves as president and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association. Prior to FBA, Gary held executive management positions at two successful venture-backed high-tech start-ups as well as at large publicly traded companies. Gary served 12 years as an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and holds an MBA from Duke University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University.
David Zumwalt serves as President & CEO of WISPA – The Association for Broadband Without Boundaries. David has held several roles working in the technology and radio frequency space. Prior to joining WISPA, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Broadband VI, a major Internet Service Provider in the US Virgin Islands, where his role included full P&L responsibility and had a primary mission to prepare the company to scale. In 2021, Broadband VI sought and won $84.5 million in FCC Connect USVI funding to supplement its private investment in Territory-wide network expansion and was subsequently acquired by a unit of publicly traded Liberty Latin America. He then led Broadband VI’s post-acquisition transition efforts. A graduate of Rice University, he has been named a Fellow of the Radio Club of America in recognition of his wireless industry contributions and is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Texas.
Brian Allenby is Senior Director of Program Operations at Maine Connectivity Authority where he works towards universal, affordable, access to high-speed internet connectivity for everyone in Maine.
Martin Marshall is a Senior Sales Engineer for OneWeb based in Anchorage, Alaska. He has spent the last 25 years in the telecommunications industry, with the last decade focused on innovation and deployment of emerging technologies. Since joining OneWeb, Martin has supported the company's broadband deployments in remote areas of Alaska, providing services to many Alaska Native villages, schools, and healthcare facilities and supporting OneWeb’s mission of “connecting the unconnected.”
Ted Hearn is Managing Editor of Broadband Breakfast. He is also Editor and Publisher of Policyband, a new website dedicated to comprehensive coverage of the broadband communications market. A former communications executive and reporter for newsletters and trade journals, Hearn has decades of experience with traditional video and broadband industry trends, regulatory developments, technology advancements, and market dynamics.
