Insights: Fiber Connect 2023

Our team had the pleasure of exhibiting at this year's Fiber Connect conference held in the beautiful Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, FL. The event drew in over 4,000 attendees and over 225 speakers took the stage. The overall theme continues to be that the industry is ramping up towards getting BEAD funding in place.  

Workforce development and program regulatory issues continue to be challenges the industry faces. A few ISP’s in attendance showed interest in options outside of the traditional engineering models that they currently operate in. Conversations circulated around engineering and design being able to keep the appropriate pace for a healthy construction pipeline. Along with these concerns, many network operators are still finding it difficult to obtain permits from local and special jurisdictions.

Interestingly, the Federal Government has coupled the BEAD program with a federal task force that is focused on easing federal permit timelines and ensuring that there is better coordination between the different permit agencies at the federal level including a path for escalation for delayed permits. 

With that, strategic partnerships will be required for the next wave of FTTH in the US as it takes flight. Biarri’s team is working hard to forge these partnerships with ISP’s, GCs, and others so that our impact to the industry sees continued growth, Fiber connect was a momentous event for fostering these relationships. 

Another observation was seeing many new companies from outside the US starting to penetrate markets and get involved in the industry. This will bring new competitors to the landscape and require Biarri to strike while the iron is hot and deliver at an elevated level to stay above the level of our competition.  

Fiber Connect had so many opportunities to learn about the challenges being faced, what new tools, software, technology, and equipment are being created and developed to meet those challenges head-on. It was a pleasure to learn, connect with new and former colleagues, and see where the industry is headed. We look forward to seeing everyone next year!  

Our Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Russell Agle, got to participate in a panel alongside other industry leaders. The panel, "Network Planning Best Practices", discussed the need to properly plan, engineer, and construct your FTTH build, which is crucial when deploying large-scale networks.