Fiber for Breakfast with Gary Bolton

The E-Rate program has connected virtually every school and library in America to broadband, growing classroom internet access from just 14% in 1996 to near-universal today. But for the first time in the program's nearly 30-year history, the FCC is asking whether E-Rate should be terminated. On this episode of Fiber for Breakfast, Gary Bolton, President & CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association, welcomes Joey Wender, Executive Director of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, to discuss what's at stake for anchor institutions and the fiber networks that serve them. Together, they explore the FCC's top-to-bottom E-Rate proceeding and the Save Our E-Rate campaign, the pending Universal Service Fund litigation, how BEAD and E-Rate complement one another, and how schools, libraries, and providers can make their voices heard before the comment window closes.

With Special Guest:

Joey Wender, Executive Director, SHLB Coalition

As fiber deployments accelerate nationwide, one major challenge continues to delay projects and increase costs: right-of-way and permitting issues. Too often, broadband providers, municipalities, and contractors face unnecessary expenses and setbacks simply because they lack the expertise to navigate complex regulatory and infrastructure hurdles. On this episode of Fiber for Breakfast, Dave Thomas, CEO, Eagle 1 Resources joins Gary Bolton, President & CEO of FBA to discuss how industry experts can help teams strategically overcome right-of-way obstacles, avoid costly mistakes, and keep fiber builds on track.

With Special Guest:

Dave Thomas, CEO, Eagle 1 Resources, LLC

The BEAD program represents a once-in-a-generation investment, but it also creates a major oversight challenge for state broadband offices. How can states ensure every project meets specifications without stretching staff or exhausting limited budgets?

On this episode of Fiber for Breakfast, Colin Reilly, Vice President of Data Strategy & Technical Services at Connected Nation, joins Gary Bolton, President & CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association, to discuss a smarter approach. Using a proprietary risk-modeling framework powered by machine learning and statistical sampling, Connected Nation helps transform grant monitoring from a reactive burden into a proactive strategy.

By identifying high-risk projects early and using milestone-based checkpoints, states and subgrantees can collaborate more effectively, avoid end-of-project surprises, and maximize the impact of BEAD investments while accelerating efforts to close the digital divide.

With Special Guest:

Colin Reilly, VP, Data Strategy & Technical Services, Connected Nation

In this week’s episode of Fiber for Breakfast, Ahmed Ali, Senior Analyst and Lead of CRU’s Optical Fibre and Cable Service, joins Gary Bolton, President & CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association, to discuss how AI, cloud and data centre growth are reshaping the requirements placed on optical networks. While conventional single-mode fibre will remain the foundation of global connectivity, some high-performance applications are beginning to push practical limits around latency, capacity density, signal integrity and physical infrastructure.

The conversation will examine where hollow-core fibre (HCF) and multicore fibre (MCF) fit within this evolving market, including their potential role in data centre interconnect, high-density data centre environments and other specialist network applications. The discussion will also explore demand trends, early trials and commercial signals, barriers to adoption, and the latest market outlook covering supply-chain implications, manufacturing scalability, standards development and strategic considerations for fibre buyers and producers.

With Special Guest:

Ahmed Ali, Lead, Optical Fibre & Cable Service, CRU Group

Quantum networking is quickly moving from research concept to infrastructure conversation—and fiber providers may already hold the foundation. In this episode of Fiber for Breakfast, Professor Prem Kumar, Director, Center of Photonic Communications and Computing at Northwestern University joins Gary Bolton, President & CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association, to explore how existing fiber infrastructure can support next-generation quantum technologies. Drawing on recent breakthroughs in transmitting quantum signals alongside high-capacity classical traffic, the discussion will examine how operators can leverage today’s optical networks to enable future applications including quantum communications, distributed computing, synchronization, and secure data exchange. Learn why the path to quantum may not require rebuilding networks—but evolving the fiber assets already in place.

With Special Guest:

Professor Prem Kumar, Director, Center of Photonic Communications and Computing, Northwestern University