Lou Borrelli joined the NCTC as CEO in 2021 and ACA Connects CEO Grant Spellmeyer began his tenure in June 2022. The two organizations have a long-standing industry partnership. We’ll hear from these leaders on the industry challenges and opportunities. They’ll share where we have been and what’s next for their organizations and the industry.

Panelists:

• Lou Borrelli, CEO, NCTC

• Grant Spellmeyer, CEO, ACA Connects

• Moderated by: Amy Maclean, Editorial Director, Cablefax

Panelists:

• Jade Piros De Carvalho, Director, Office of Broadband

• Glen Howie, Executive Broadband Manager, AR

• Logan Phillips, Technology Chair, OK State House of Representatives

• Moderated by: Mike Jacobs, ACA Connects

Moderated by Jeff Leget, the VP of MTO Relationships for CableLabs, this panel will provide an update on wireless broadband services ranging from LEO satellite services to terrestrial fixed wireless and WiFi 6/6E in the home. The conversation will span the technologies, competitive threats, in-home best practices and the challenges when using wireless to deliver broadband service. Time will be reserved for questions of the panelists

• Barry Weber, Senior Director, Product Management for Technicolor

Barry leads Technicolor’s Product Management team for the Global Fiber and Ethernet product lineup and for several North American Cable Customers. He works closely with internal development teams at Technicolor, technology suppliers and operators around the world to define and create industry leading products. Recent product introductions range from XGSPON ONT’s to Triband Wi-Fi 6E DOCSIS 3.1 Gateways.

During his 25+ year career at Technicolor, has been active in many fields. This included leading Technicolor’s product management team for satellite video products, starting the team that revolutionized delivery of HD content to the hospitality industry, working on anti-piracy solutions for the film industry and designing hardware solutions for multiple MPEG2 set top boxes and DOCSIS Gateways.

• Sanjay Patel, Distinguished Strategist and Senior Director of Technology for CableLabs

  Sanjay is a Distinguished Strategist at CableLabs, a non-profit research and development lab funded by the global cable industry. He partners with the organization’s innovation and R&D groups on technical, competitive and economic analyses. His areas of focus include Wireless (5G, Fixed Wireless) and Wired-Wireless Convergence where he leads CableLabs' Convergence Program working closely with members, vendors and CableLabs subject matter experts. Previously, Sanjay led product and strategy for Comcast’s wholesale services unit, held leadership roles at Level 3 Communications and was a Certified Public Accountant. Sanjay has Bachelor and Masters of Business Administration degrees from Northwestern University.

• Jared Baumann-VP of Technology Innovation for NCTC

  Jared is the Vice President of Technology Innovation for the National Content and Technology Cooperative (NCTC) representing more than 700 broadband and cable operators operating in all 50 states and the U.S. territories serving 40 million video and broadband connections. NCTC provides operational and strategic support, purchasing power for video content, hardware, software, broadband transit, transport, products and services. Prior to NCTC, Jared was with C Spire, where he spent seven years leading the creation and operations of their fiber to the home (FTTH) program, led the first U.S. deployment of MobiTV as an app-based pay TV solution, and created the 5G Home Internet (Fixed Wireless) team. Jared is an Ole Miss graduate and now lives in the Kansas City, Kansas area.

• Jim Cannon - VP of US Operations for Mobia

  Jim Cannon, an Electrical Engineer and system architect, has both design and operational experience in the cable and telecom industries with a career spanning 40 years. Jim is the VP of US Operations for MOBIA Technology Innovations. In this role, Jim has built a consortium of industry and private equity partners to go to market with an end-to-end solution for fiber and cellular networks. Jim designed and operated MVNOs from 2006 to 2018 and produced the corporate level drawing for Spectrum Mobile. He currently works with state and local governments regarding fiber construction with telecom overlays and the business models that support those networks.

  Moderater,-Jeff Leget, VP Infrastructure Operations and MidTier Operators for CableLabs

  As the VP of Infrastructure Operations for CableLabs, Jeff oversees the integration and management of all technology assets and software. Jeff is the executive responsible for this ecosystem which issues millions of new certifications every year. His primary responsibility in recent years has been managing the relationships with CableLabs’ mid-tier operators. These operators service less than 10 million subscribers each, representing 40% of the total CableLabs membership. Jeff’s career spans Accenture, Staples and Level-3 (Lumen) managing IT hardware and software operations and capacity planning. Jeff has a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration from Colorado State University.

Richard Branson, British entrepreneur and founder of Virgin Group, famously said, “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”

In this breakout session, you’ll hear what member companies are doing in employee recruitment, communication, training and recognition to build employee engagement. We’ll talk about the things that have changed in the last three years for them and how remote work has impacted engagement.

• Moderator: Crystal Kemp, Conway Corp

• Annette Guthrie, WEHCO

• LeAnn Dittman, Cable One

• Beth Jimmerson, Conway Corp

It’s time to evaluate your brand! Likeability may be the key to gaining and retaining your customers as the broadband industry becomes more competitive. Let’s talk about the importance of likeability and how businesses can become more likable in the eyes of their customers. This is not just about your business brand – we’ll touch on the personal brand too!

• Hosted by Sarah Connole, Trouvaille Creative

Join us on Thursday afternoon at MACS for "Storytelling for Social Change," featuring Adena J. White, founder of Blackbelt Media. This session will explore social-impact storytelling and best practices around diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.

Adena J. White is an accredited public relations professional with more than a decade of experience in strategic communication and storytelling. A strong believer in the power of storytelling for social change, Adena founded Blackbelt Media LLC in 2017, which produces the Blackbelt Voices podcast. The podcast propagates the richness of Black Southern culture by telling stories from and about Black folks down South.

• Adena J. White, Blackbelt Media

• Business Feature: Revolt TV