Beyond the Cable with Brad Randall

Maz Khan, the president of Vitalis Smart Communities, says the term smart community is thrown around too loosely nowadays.
"Somebody puts up a Nest thermostat and some sort of smart lock and all of a sudden it's a smart community," he said, while appearing on Beyond the Cable as a recent guest. "Well, that's not it."
Khan said he believes connectivity is the foundation of any smart community.
"You can put all the gadgets you want," he said, "but if you don't have a network that can support it, all you've done is just frustrate the residents and the tenants who are living in that building or community."
Khan said a truly smart community is one where systems and solutions work together in full integration to make the lives of residents easier.
Similarly, he said AI offers lots of potential to enhance the smart community model. He argued, however, that without the foundation of solid connectivity communities will miss out on the benefits of AI.
"I want to look at connectivity as a basis and then build the layers on top," he said.

Connectivity is a key part of decision making when renters are considering where to live, according to Elizabeth Parks, the president and CMO of Parks Associates.
Parks joined Ilan Eframian, a VP from Xfinity Communities, on Beyond the Cable to discuss some of the insights revealed in recent research by Parks Associates, which closely studies the broadband and multifamily markets.

Requirements asking providers to submit written statements pledging not to take additional subsidies to complete and operate BEAD projects have had a chilling effect, according to Bree Maki, the director of Minnesota's office of broadband development.
Maki made the comments in her recent appearance on Beyond the Cable, a Broadband Communities podcast.
She said providers using subsidies from the Universal Service Fund have been most hesitant to participate in the government's $42.45 billion broadband spend, known as the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.
"There's just a level of uncertainty," she said, referencing the announcement from Arielle Roth last November directing states to obtain the written statements.

Ezee Fiber has grown rapidly in recent years, with aggressive expansion efforts in markets like Houston, New Mexico, and the Pacific Northwest.
The fiber internet provider's CEO, Matt Marino, recently joined Beyond the Cable—a Broadband Communities podcast—to discuss the company's quickly expanding footprint and talked strategy.
Marino said a sense of urgency is incredibly important. 
"This is a highly competitive business, it is a highly complicated business," he said, adding that there are lots of moving parts that need to be tracked and managed.

Jon Carlson, a senior vice president of business development at Ibex, explains why everyone wins with a healthy ISP ecosystem, not just the corporations. "Yes, success for those tier two and tier three (ISPs) is super important for those organizations, for those companies," he said, appearing on a recent episode of Beyond the Cable. "But it's really super important for the populations that their servicing, who just have not had the access that they deserve."In this interview, Carlson shares some of his takes about how smaller ISPs can meet the challenge of growth. As he says, "it's the mechanics of the day to day that actually allows growth to happen." Find out what he means here, in Part 1 of his appearance on Beyond the Cable, a Broadband Communities Summit podcast.Learn more about Broadband Communities Summit at bbcmag.com/summit.