The annual Fiber Connect conference of the Fiber Broadband Association will be back during the week of August 20 – 23, in Orlando, Florida. It is one of the leading fiber broadband events in the country, with heavyweights from the industry ranging from vendors to consumers, policymakers and carriers. As states are ramping up to submit their five-year broadband plans, this year’s conference will bring together several stakeholders in the ecosystem to discuss the path forward. Join this special on-the-scene Broadband Breakfast Live Online event as Broadband Breakfast Editor and Publisher Drew Clark will interview attendees and recap the news from Fiber Connect.

Panelists

• Keith Quarles, President and Chief Financial Officer of A2D
• Alicia Kearns, Chief Marketing Officer, Render Networks
• Teralyn Whipple, Reporter, Broadband Breakfast
• Other impromptu guests may be included
• Drew Clark (moderator), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Alicia Kearns is the Chief Marketing Officer for Render Strategic brand and growth marketing leader with 18+ years Global to local experience delivering to Tech, SaaS & Finance corporate strategies through innovative and effective brand building, demand generation and customer marketing strategies.

Keith Quarles has been in the telecommunications industry and with A2D Inc. for over 15 yrs. He entered the space as a former real estate developer and general contractor in Atlanta, Ga. After deploying several open access fiber networks on his own developments in the mid 2000’s, Mr. Quarles invested in A2D and transitioned to the telecom industry to expand the open-access fiber business in the states of Georgia and Alabama. He is the President and CFO of A2D, leading all new business development, managing financial investments and overseeing general operations.

Teralyn Whipple, who joined Broadband Breakfast in 2022, studied marketing at Brigham Young University. She has reported extensively on broadband infrastructure, investments and deployment – particularly controversies over broadband mapping, the Commerce Department Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment grant program, the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. She has also headed marketing campaigns for several small companies.

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 campaign for broadband data. As Editor and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media company 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.