Broadband Breakfast on September 30, 2026 – Tribal Broadband and Adoption
What's working, where momentum is building, and how federal agencies, ISPs, and industry partners can strengthen support for tribal initiatives.
Federal investment in tribal broadband has grown significantly in recent years, yet adoption rates in these communities continue to lag behind the national average. Closing the adoption gap in tribal areas calls for approaches that account for the distinct governance, geographic, and community conditions of tribal lands. This session looks at what's working, where momentum is building, and how federal agencies, ISPs, and industry partners can strengthen their support for tribal broadband initiatives.
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Broadband Breakfast
Panelists
- Rob Griffin, Tribal Broadband Director, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
- Christopher Mitchell, Director of Community Broadband Networks, Institute of Local Self-Reliance
- Adam Puckett, Vice President of Sales, North America, COS Systems
- Lance Browder, Senior Tribal Broadband Officer, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
- Other panelists have been invited.
- Drew Clark (moderator), CEO and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast
Rob Griffin serves as the Tribal Broadband Director for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, where he leads broadband strategy and infrastructure development to expand digital access across the Nation’s territory. A proud member of the Choctaw Nation, Mr. Griffin brings over 20 years of experience in designing, implementing, and managing technology-driven solutions that connect communities across the United States and globally. Throughout his career, Mr. Griffin has partnered with Tribal, Federal, and State governments.
Christopher Mitchell is the Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) in Minneapolis. Mitchell is a leading national expert on community networks, Internet access, and local broadband policies. He hosts audio and video shows online, including Community Broadband Bits and Connect This!
Adam Puckett is the Vice President of Sales, Americas at COS Systems, a leading provider of software automation for open-access and broadband networks. With extensive leadership experience in the telecommunications and technology sectors, Puckett drives market expansion and helps service providers, municipalities, and utilities deploy scalable, automated fiber networks to close the digital divide.
Lance Browder is the Senior Tribal Broadband Officer for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, where he leads the strategy and deployment of large-scale fiber and wireless networks to close the digital divide in the rural communities of Southeastern Oklahoma. Drawing on over 20 years of experience managing multimillion-dollar infrastructure projects at XO Communications and Earthlink, he specializes in building connectivity in challenging environments where traditional market models often fail. Lance’s work is driven by the belief that high-speed internet is foundational infrastructure essential for advancing education, healthcare, and economic opportunity.
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.
