Broadband Pulse

SCTE's Popo and Morse on cable's convergence moment at SCTE TechExpo25

As the cable industry considers new methods to address competition with fiber and converged wireless/wireline service sets, it’s clear the industry is looking towards its next elements of growth. Nowhere will this be highlighted than at the SCTE TechExpo25.
During this year’s TechExpo25 show, attendees will be able to view new technologies like AI, automation, and advanced planning, while tackling challenges in security, operations, and construction.
Broadband Pulse recently caught up with Maria Popo, President and CEO, SCTE, and Janelle Morse, VP of engagement and strategy, SCTE, to discuss their expectations for this year’s show in Washington, DC.
Key Moments in This Episode
Opening
0:04 Introduction of our guests
0:31 Guests provide background Maria Popo and Janelle Morse talk about their roles at SCTE.
1:37 SCTE CableTech25 expectationsJanelle Morse shares highlights about the TechExpo25 show
4:43 Workforce readiness and policyMaria Popo addresses how the show will highlight workforce issues shaped by AI and communications regulations.
5:58 Cable’s convergence storyMaria Popo looks at how cable operators are looking to create seamless experiences across their assets--HFC, fiber, mobile and Wi-Fi.
8:58 Differentiated servicesJanelle Morse highlights the cable industry’s move to offer more than just speeds.
9:26 Cable’s last mile evolutionHow cable operators are expanding fiber strategically while squeezing value out of the existing HFC network.
13:25 Regional cable operators Janelle Morse discusses how small cable operators can learn and gain inspiration from Tier 1 providers.
14:41 BEAD EvolutionHow the cable industry is grappling with the new administration’s changes to the BEAD program.
16:38 Building the next-gen workforceHow the cable industry can use AI to train and apply it in the field.
20:52 Final Thoughts/closingMaria Popo and Janelle Morse give their final closing thoughts.
About our guests
Maria Popo, President and CEO, SCTEAs president and CEO of SCTE, a CableLabs subsidiary, Popo is dedicated to enhancing the broadband industry by aligning corporate goals with transformative learning solutions, fostering workforce technology skills and innovation, while leveraging its global network of over 60 chapters for industry engagement and insights. Popo’s journey from trade school to academia and boardrooms has been shaped by tenacity, adaptability, and lifelong learning. During her tenure in the networking and cable industries, she held senior roles at various companies, including Global Fortune 50 Foxconn, CEO/president of Ubee Interactive Americas, and 3Com(HP)/Ambit Microsystems/3M.
Janelle Morse, VP of engagement and strategy, SCTE As SCTE’s Vice President of Engagement and Strategy, Janelle Morse leads strategy and engagement initiatives across the SCTE membership community and drives global participation for TechExpo, North America’s premier broadband technology event. Before joining SCTE in 2023, she served as VP of Research, Events & Media at TM Forum, where she led initiatives to showcase the Forum and industry achievements across multiple platforms, fostering opportunities for learning, collaboration, exploration, and connection. In 2020, she successfully led her team through the rapid transformation of TM Forum’s flagship event, Digital Transformation World, into a completely virtual 6-week magazine-style event.
About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and listen here.

Panduit’s Vermeer focuses on easing customer pain points

Mike Vermeer’s telecom career took hold right out of college when he joined Panduit. During his 20 years with the company, he has tackled various missions related to product design, technology, innovation, and looking at customer challenges. One of his key passions is helping improve network deployments for the company’s array of service provider customers. Today, he serves as the Manager of Broadband Solutions at Panduit.
We spoke to Vermeer about how Panduit’s broadband division can help its service customers adapt to the rapidly changing dynamics they are facing in technology, regulations, and the workforce.
Key Moments in This Episode
Opening
0:03 Introduction of our guest
0:16 Vermeer’s Panduit journeyMike Vermeer talks about his 20-year career with the company.
1:46 Network service philosophyVermeer talks about his passion for helping improve network deployments
4:33 State of the broadband marketHow broadband has become an expected amenity.
6:29 The cable industry’s network journeyCable will continue to consider fiber as competition threats rise.
8:41 New fiber competitionHow Panduit can serve smaller providers that need a broadband supplier ecosystem.
10:48 Broadband provider consolidationThe way the market will shift with new and existing players.
11:59 The BEAD opportunityWhile there have been delays, Vermeer and Panduit are preparing to address needs as funding gets rolled out.
14:44 Supply chain issuesVermeer notes that broadband customers should maintain a resilient supply chain with options.
16:09 Broadband workforce issuesPanduit is working to make the broadband construction ecosystem larger.19:17 The AI factor How internet service providers can leverage AI inference models to deliver insights to customers.21:21 Final Thoughts Mike Vermeer shares his final thoughts about the state of broadband.
About our guestMike Vermeer is Manager of Broadband Solutions at Panduit. He has a Mechanical Engineering degree from Purdue University and a Master's degree from DePaul University. Mike has 20 years of experience in new product and business development, holds multiple patents and is a Certified Fiber to the Home Professional.
About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and listen here.

Brightspeed’s fiber internet buildout gains momentum in Monroe County, Michigan; Comcast starts building out broadband to 12K Westport, CT locations

Brightspeed, Comcast, Conexon Connect, C Spire, DigitalC, Ezee Fiber, Gateway Fiber, Lumos, Sprocket Networks and TDS Telecom are all expanding broadband in various communities through a mix of venture capital and state funding sources. 
About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and listen here.

Zayo's Long on how it is scaling up its IP and dark fiber opportunity pipeline

Zayo had a productive second quarter that will provide a runway for future growth. The service provider announced that its North American core network is now 400G-enabled. This update aligns with the findings from Zayo’s recent Bandwidth Report, which found 400G wavelengths accounted for the largest total terabits purchased in 2024. It also made progress with dark fiber, expanding IP network services and its Quick Connect Data Center offering.  
The service provider broke ground on the first three long-haul dark fiber routes that were announced in January--Chicago to Columbus, Chicago to Minneapolis, and Phoenix to Tucson. On the IP network front, it expanded its presence with seven new IP Points of Presence (PoPs), including two new 400G-enabled PoPs in Montreal and Chicago. Wavelength services have become a key service for the service provider. In particular, 400G wavelengths represented the largest share of total terabits purchased, outpacing both 10G and 100G solutions. Finally, it opened 27 new Quick Connect Data Centers, bringing its total to over 100 Quick Connect facilities. These centers allow the turn-up of IP and Ethernet services within just 10 days. 
In this latest podcast, we caught up with Bill Long, chief product and strategy officer at Zayo, about the service provider's ongoing IP service and dark fiber push to carriers, data centers and enterprises.  
Key Moments in This Episode
Opening
0:03 Introduction of our guest
0:30 Zayo’s network progressLong talks about how Zayo is expanding long-haul fiber, metro fiber, IP and wavelength services.
2:04 Dark fiber opportunitiesHow emerging AI demands are driving requests for over 144 fibers.
4:09 The 400G opportunityLong maintains that 400G success requires a large fiber network inventory.
6:11 Zayo’s private wave network service A service that offers dark fiber economics without having the technical expertise to operate it.
7:18 New service developments and trendsHow Zayo is easing the service ordering process.
9:33 Zayo’s Quick-Connect Data CentersA service that allows rapid turn of IP and Ethernet services at select data center locations.
11:02 Data center connectivity sweet spotsZayo is serving a diversity of data center locations with different needs.
12:37 The AI opportunity How Zayo is seeing new demands but is vigilant about its approach.  
14:05 Middle Mile Zayo has positioned itself as a middle-mile partner to smaller broadband providers in Arizona and other regions.
16:22 Integrating Crown Castle’s assetsThe service provider sees the acquisition as providing a complementary network footprint.
18:17 Final thoughtsBill Long shares his final thoughts about what lies ahead for Zayo throughout the rest of 2025 and into 2026.
About our guest: 
Bill Long, chief product and strategy officer at Zayo
Bill Long is an experienced telecommunications and technology leader. As Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Zayo, he leads the company’s overall product strategy, financials, and roadmap. He has nearly two decades of experience in the telecommunications industry with expertise in interconnection and infrastructure services, enterprise and wholesale voice, and business and product development. Before joining Zayo, Bill served as senior vice president of product management and was responsible for the overall growth and profitability of Equinix Interconnection and Data Center Products globally. Earlier, he held several roles at Level 3 Communications, including VP of Voice Services, Senior Director of Voice Product Development and Director of Emerging Opportunities.
About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and listen here.

C Spire Fiber extends fiber to rural Tylertown, Mississippi; Ezee Fiber launches fiber expansion into Milton, Lakewood and Fife, Washington

In this latest issue of Building Broadband, we're tracking new broadband deployments from CentraCom, C Spire Fiber, Ezee Fiber, Gigapower, GCI, GoNetspeed, IIG, New York's ConnectALL, Spectrum and Syntrio.
 
About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and listen here.

AlixPartners’ Danis on emerging broadband provider industry consolidation

Led by Tier 1 telcos AT&T and Verizon, a new M&A wave in the fiber broadband market is rising. AT&T is moving to acquire Lumen’s FTTH business, while Verizon is going to acquire Frontier. Each of these deals will significantly expand these Tier 1 How to understand the changes and the role of fiber and other technologies. However, Tier 1 providers aren’t the only ones making acquisition moves. Consolidation in the regional fiber broadband market is expected to continue accelerating over the next year. According to a survey conducted by AlixPartners  last fall, more than 400 small fiber providers in the U.S. “are ripe for picking by investors or larger fiber companies when the inevitable major fiber consolidation wave occurs.”
In this podcast, we talked with Andrej Danis, partner and managing director for AlixPartners, about the ongoing consolidation of the broadband market and how providers are positioning themselves as either buyers or sellers.
Key Moments in This Episode
Opening
0:04 Introduction of our guest
0:27 Broadband service provider M&AAndrej Danis sees the telecom industry at the forefront of a more consolidated roll-up of properties.
3:04 M&A drivers How service providers are positioning themselves as either buyers or sellers.
5:45 New customer approaches How Verizon/Frontier and AT&T/Lumen megadeals will drive new customer service approaches.
7:36 Acquisition dynamics Smaller providers could be rolled up to sell to larger providers.
11:23 Permitting challenges The need for the current administration to address the issue.
13:18 Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) uncertaintyHow to understand the changes and the role of fiber and other technologies. 
17:26 Public-private broadband partnerships How underserved communities need to be creative to get connected.
20:12 Final Thoughts/Closing
About our guest:Andrej Danis, partner and managing director for AlixPartnersAndrej leads the Americas Telecommunication practice at AlixPartners with experience in helping companies solve operational and strategic challenges, both as an internal manager and as a consultant in different functions across America and Europe. His focus is on large-scale transformation projects in the telecommunications space, and he has experience leveraging new technologies and platforms to accelerate transformations and improve operational and organizational metrics.
He also helps companies address upcoming investment challenges such as 5G deployment, fiber roll-out, and fixed mobile convergence. Andrej has also acted as a consultant for different telecommunication areas, including cloud-based communication, sub-sea fiber, wireless network strategy, and CLEC transformation. Before joining AlixPartners, he held roles at Deutsche Telekom and T-Systems, where he was involved in transformational programs for nationally affiliated telcos.
About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and listen here.

AeroNet Wireless taps Tarana for multi-million-dollar upgrade; Astound expands existing fiber network in McGregor, Texas

In this latest issue of Building Broadband, we’re tracking new broadband deployments from AeroNet Wireless, Astound, Brightspeed, Comcast, Fidium, Home Telecom, Shentel and TDS Telecom.
About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and listen here.

Frontier’s Mispagel on becoming the second-largest fiber builder in the U.S.

In this episode of the Broadband Pulse podcast, we talked to Scott Mispagel, Senior Vice President, Network Engineering and Operations at Frontier Communications. During this episode, we talked about the ongoing progress Frontier has made in expanding its fiber broadband reach and customer base.
Frontier, which is being acquired by Verizon, has continued to enhance its standing in the fiber broadband market. As of the end of the second quarter, Frontier added 334,000 fiber passings to reach 8.5 million total locations passed with fiber.
As Mispagel sees it, “it has been a great highlight of my career to be a part of the company’s turnaround and bringing the life-changing technology that we bring to our customers.”
Key Moments in This Episode
Opening
0:07 Introduction of our guest
1:33 The 2025 Connect the Unconnected AwardScott Mispagel talks about being this year’s honoree.
2:39 Frontier's fiber broadband gains momentumHow Frontier’s leadership has made fiber a key part of its strategy.
4:12 Permitting and supply chain challengesFrontier took a proactive approach as it scaled its fiber network.
6:39 Local community partnerships Frontier communicates the value of building out fiber.
8:26 Prioritizing fiber buildsThe service provider weighs factors such as population density and labor availability.
9:42 Frontier’s “Broadband for Good” ProgramHow Frontier contributes fiber broadband service to community-led organizations like the Boys & Girls Club.
11:25 Frontier’s fiber technology visionThe service provider participates in industry organizations like the ITU to drive new standards.
13:04 AI’s growing influenceHow AI is changing business trajectories.
15:16 Frontier’s middle mile visionFrontier sees the middle mile as the highways between every community.
17:21 Final Thoughts/closing Scott Mispagel shares his final thoughts and vision for Frontier’s fiber build program.
Meet our guest:
Scott Mispagel, Senior Vice President, Network Engineering and Operations at Frontier CommunicationsSince July 2013, Scott Mispagel has served as Senior Vice President of Network Engineering and Operations at Frontier Communications. With a proven track record in strategic and technical leadership within the telecommunications sector, Mispagel has held several senior roles, including VP of Network Planning and Engineering, overseeing a large team of engineers responsible for nationwide voice and data network infrastructure. Earlier, Mispagel held several roles at Windstream Communications, advancing from Director of Data Engineering to Vice President of Network Technology Planning and Engineering. Mispagel also served on the Board of Directors for Rebuilding Together North Texas from January 2019 to December 2021. Mispage holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the University of Arkansas.
About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and listen here.

ACS completes Northstar submarine cable upgrade; BAM Broadband expands into Tempe, Ariz.

In this latest issue of Building Broadband, we’re tracking new broadband deployments from Alaska Communications, BAM Broadband, Brightspeed, Dobson Fiber, Ripple Fiber, TDS and United Communications.
About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and listen here.

Comcast's Slovin on crafting smart city solutions

In this episode of the Broadband Pulse podcast, we talked with Mike Slovin, Vice President and General Manager of Smart Solutions.
Comcast Smart Solutions (CSS) helps cities to advise, help design, deploy, and support holistic smart technology ecosystems with a vetted and curated ecosystem of top smart technology collaborations to help create efficient and productive buildings and environments. Its offerings include Smart Buildings technology, Video Analytics, Smart Mobility, Digital Signage, and Smart Lighting solutions.
CCS recently announced a collaboration with the City of Tucker, GA, an Atlanta suburb, to upgrade the lighting infrastructure on the city’s public trail and park system with a smart solution designed to enhance visibility and connectivity. The City of Tucker selected Comcast Smart Solutions to implement a fully-integrated video analytics, Wi-Fi, and lighting solution into existing light fixtures along a portion of the city’s public trail that leads to Tucker Town Green, a recreational park. The project aims to strengthen both security protocols and connectivity by providing advanced video analytics and public Wi-Fi access to the area.
Along with Tucker, Comcast has been gaining momentum in other cities in Colorado, Florida, Utah and others.
Key Moments in This Episode
Opening
0:05 Introduction of guests
0:33 Comcast Smart Solutions smart city approach Mike Slovin, Vice President and General Manager of Smart Solutions, addresses how it helps cities solve specific business needs like improving sustainability, improving safety protocols or improving energy management.
2:57 Smart City trendsHow to address cities’ individual needs for managing infrastructure.
4:37 Tucker, Georgia’s work with Comcast Smart SolutionsComcast is monitoring the city’s new public trail.
6:47 Juganu’s multipurpose light fixtures How Juganu can help cities transform city spaces with what they call “digital intelligence.”
8:20 Targeted solutions approach Comcast crafts solutions that meet an individual city’s needs.
8:38 Dedicated internet connectivityHow Comcast is leveraging its internet connectivity to support Tucker, Ga.’s smart city applications.
10:13 The status of the Tucker, Georgia deployment
11:13 Comcast’s smart city momentumComcast Smart Solutions provides tailored service for every smart city opportunity.
12:10 The evolution of Comcast’s Smart SolutionsComcast changed the division name to Smart Solutions to reflect its diverse customer base.
13:17 Final Thoughts/ClosingComcast Smart Solutions’ Mike Slovin gives us his insight about new opportunities for the division.
Meet our guest:
Michael Slovin, Vice President and General Manager Smart SolutionsA 30-year telecom and cable veteran, Slovin oversees integration of Comcast’s advanced connectivity options with industry-leading smart technology partners to enable the delivery of smart technology solutions to clients. Slovin has spent the last 18 years in corporate leadership positions at Comcast. His roles have included leading Xfinity Communities’ national accounts and direct sales channels and, most recently, serving as the Vice President of National Field Sales, managing the teams that transform individual multifamily properties into smart, connected communities, supporting millions of residents. Prior to Comcast, Slovin occupied various leadership positions with Sprint, Winstar and MCI Communications (now Verizon Communications).
About the Podcast In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and listen here.