Connect This!

After five and a half years, dozens of guests, two emergency episodes, and 124 shows, we’re saying goodbye to Connect This!. We want to thank you all, from the bottom of our collective heart, for joining us on this journey. Across the live stream and audio versions of this show, we’ve been delighted and surprised each year to get nearly 10,000 listens as we’ve talked about building and managing networks, competition in the marketplace, creating clear and effective marketing campaigns, state and federal infrastructure grant programs, dark money campaigns, local broadband champions, affordability, digital skills, and more. Thank you to all of the guests who have lent their time and expertise to the show. We couldn’t have done it without you. We’re taking the energy you all have given us and the lessons we’ve learned over to Unbuffered, our new show at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which talks about all the ways that communications and data technology shapes our lives and our communties – from Internet access, to devices, to privacy and surveillance, and more. Unbuffered combines the format and ethos of both Connect This! and the Community Broadband Bits podcast, where we recorded almot 700 episodes over a ten-year run. Community broadband will remain at the core of what we do here, but the world is a bigger, more complicated place than it was a decade ago, and new challenges call for new approaches to meet them. Special thanks for Travis Carter, co-founder of the show, and Doug Dawson and Kim McKinley, for sharing their experience and knowledge as we continue to move the needle towards fast, affordable Internet access for every household that wants it.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (Tak Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Topics include: A new report from ILSR on 19 small towns in Massachusetts building public partnerships and new fiber networks. Massive AWS and Cloudflare outages impacting large parts of the Internet The new broadband usage report from OpenVault 18 states so far have finally gotten NTIA approval after redoing most of the work from last summer, with the result being fewer homes will be passed by the BEAD program and, of those, a smaller proportion will get fiber than under Biden. The latest attempt to hamstring any state regulation of AI by tying BEAD approval to the measure Join us live on November 20th at 3pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (Tak Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Topics include: Now that final Benefit of the Bargain numbers are in on the BEAD program, the trend is clear: tens of thousands of locations will no longer see any federal solution, and nearly a million more will get worse and more expensive satellite service rather the fiber. With BEAD now a shadow of what it could be, it’s never been more apparent that local governments need to step into the gap. Where are they all? A new report claiming just 8 million Americans remain offline as of 2025 shows the trouble of asking too simple of questions and accepting too simple of answers in describing the problem of the digital divide. Join us live on October 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Edit: We encountered a technical issue with the streaming platform for the show; it resolves around 1:20. Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (Tak Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Angela Siefer to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. On the docket today: Cedar Falls Utilities in Iowa shuts down its cable TV offerings Big Apple Connect in New York City continues to give public dollars to broadband monopolies instead of implementing a structural solution A new report says SpaceX has foreign investors in China West Virginia wants to build a pole attachment database, but investor-owned utilities are pushing back The National Digital Inclusion Alliance has filed its lawsuit against the Trump Administration for cancelling the Digital Equity Act Join us live on October 10th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter joined by regular guest Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guests Josh Johnson and Donny Smith, from Fibersmith –  an OSS/BSS design and management firm for operators around the country. Topics of discussion  include: Secret fiber caps from NTIA to push BEAD funds toward LEO. A foiled cell attack in New York City. A deep dive on Fibersmith, and the things small and medium-sized operators need to think about long before they put their first shovel in the ground. Join us live on September 26th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Topics include: Starship launch success T-mobile buys USI Fiber in Minneapolis New BEAD numbers show a shifting of public dollars away from fiber and towards satellite AT&T buys Echostar spectrum; the 4th carrier is dead It’s ISPs versus the music industry, with your privacy and connection on the chopping block Join us live on September 5th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) is joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guests Gigi Sohn (American Association for Public Broadband) and Josh Etheridge (EPC) to talk about Mountain Connect, T-Mobile continuing to buy up ISPs, Digital C going to Detroit, antitrust, and more. Join us live on August 13th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Heather Mills (Tilson) to talk about the FCC giving out participation trophies to the monopoly providers, how state offices are responding to the BEAD guidance changes, disaster response and resilient Internet networks, and more. The full list of topics includes: Charter Spectrum calling deliberate fiber cuts “domestic terrorism” FCC Chair Brendan Carr further abdicating the commission’s responsibility to the American people How states are responding to the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD changes FEMA’s role in rebuilding our Internet networks California’s affordable broadband bill getting pulled Whether T-Mobile has enough fiber to support its plan for the future Join us live on July 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about right-of-way fees, electric cooperatives, and the future of active Ethernet networks in the United States. Join us live on July 3rd at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband), Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Shayna Englin (California Community Foundation) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Topics include: California’s attempt to enshrine affordable broadband access principles for qualifying families into law The recent national DNS outage, and what it tells us about lack of investment by monopoly ISPs Wi-Fi under threat from lobby interests looking to cash in Technical questions from readers Join us live on June 20th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch an emergency episode of the Connect This! Show, with host Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) joined by Lori Adams (Nokia), Heather Mills (Tilson), and Blair Levin (Brookings) to talk about the raft of fundamental changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Act (BEAD) announced by NTIA last Friday. States are required to rebuild and resubmit their proposals to the federal agency on a 90-day sprint after making core changes just as money for construction was about to go out the door. Join us live on June 9th at 4pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting), and special guest Josh Etheridge to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Bountiful, Utah and Oakland, California announce newsworthy milestones to improve connectivity for households, but the big news is looming structural changes to the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. And wouldn’t you know it, but NTIA releases them just ten minutes into the live show.  Join us live on June 7th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Angela Siefer (National Digital Inclusion Alliance) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Topics include: Charter and Cox announce agreement to merge, unseating Comcast as the largest cable provider in the United States What the public-funds match for Starlink should be, when BEAD moves forward. Funding for hot spots – a core digital equity tool that grew to new importance under the pandemic – is under threat. Trump’s announcement that he was ending the Digital Equity Act, and the significant impact it will have if the order holds. Join us live on May 16th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Topics include: The first launch of Amazon’s Project Kuiper Low-Earth Orbit Internet access satellite constellation The FCC losing (or maybe not?) its ability to levy fines The importance of getting construction right Fixing urban cell phone coverage Kentucky Wired lawsuit between state-owned network and its operational partner Join us live on May 2nd at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Shane Eleniak (Calix) to talk about: Comcast’s new five-year price lock A CNET pricing study that looks at the rising cost of access that hasn’t improved most household’s reliability The milestones that Utah-based municipal network UTOPIA Fiber hit in 2024 The future of Passive Optical Networks, and where we go after XGS PON Join us live on April 18th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) with special guest Blair Levin (New Street Research) to talk about states asking the federal government for defaulted RDOF funds back, the Arielle Roth hearing, the future of the USF, and more. Topics include: Achieving Internet for All takes time What we learned from the Arielle Roth hearing The future of the Universal Service Fund in an LEO World States want their defaulted Rural Digital Opportunity Fund back AT&T to buy Lumen? Dig-Once Challenges Join us live on March 28th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about a grab-bag of topics including: The revolving door of government BEAD’s grant tax Ted Cruz going after hotspots Minnesota’s broadband workforce law Who will care about the federal broadband maps after BEAD? Join us live on March 14th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about major changes coming to the BEAD program and a grab-bag of other topics, including: Amazon drone delivery pauses in College Station, Texas A new report shows the Affordable Connectivity Program saved the federal government more than it cost The coming transformation of the BEAD program, and the likely minor and major changes to come: including removing the preference for fiber, eliminating planning requirements pertaining to climate change and service addenda like data caps, and much more. The announcement of Starlink Residential Lite Takeaways from the new OpenVault broadband usage report If some recent fiber provider news is revealing of the first provider closures Join us live on March 7th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Jason Livingood (Comcast) to talk how cable network operators are innovating to reduce latency, combat buffer bloat, and improve their networks around the county. Join us live on February 21 at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Join us live on February 21 at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) along with special guest Paul Dickinson (Dura-line, Fiber Optic Sensing Association, and Aii) to talk about the future of fiber optic sensing to do everything from avoid fiber cuts from construction equipment to monitor traffic to detect pipeline leakages. They also hit a grab-bag of other topics, including: Who owns the Internet? Arielle Roth’s nomination to NTIA The AI bubble hitting middle-mile builders The FCC reversing course on its efforts to protect renters’ access to a competitive broadband market FWA providers going in on serving those living in mobile home parks Join us live on February 7th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Communications) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Join us live on January 10th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Communications) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Jade Piros de Carvalho (Bonfire). Topics include: New York state can require a low-income plan option for ISPs after the Supreme Court declines to hear arguments Looking back on the legacy of the Biden FCC after four years Revisiting our predictions about how the year would go to see how we did Join us live on December 19th, at 2pm ET or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-host Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Communications) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guests Heather Mills (Tilson) and Lori Adams (Nokia) to talk about what comes next as we approach a new year. Topics include: A new anti-municipal network “study” that recently came out Connecting the last and most-expensive 10 percent of households with BEAD Federal telecom policy in a post-Biden world Join us live on December 6, at 2pm ET or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. We return on December 19th at 2pm ET. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print.  Topics include: Verizon and AT&T claiming that the FCC can’t stop them from selling your data Starlink introduces a wait list and finally adds a customer help line The startling decline in spectrum value for mmWave Funding announcements in New York and California that favor public networks The Dish/Direct TV deal looks kaput How we would redesign the Affordable Connectivity Program, and why Join us live on November 22, at 2pm ET or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest Matt Peterson (SFMIX). They talk about some of the sea changes we expect to see with the change in federal administrations with relation to BEAD before a long conversation with California-based IX builder Matt Peterson about whether we need more middle mile in this country and how we might best build it. Join us live on November 8, at 2pm ET or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guests Gigi Sohn (American Association for Public Broadband) and Blair Levin (New Street Research) to celebrate 100 episodes of the show. They talk about a new survey showing average broadband pricing hitting more than $100/month for the first time in some states, communications networks in the wake of Hurricane Helene, the hypocrisy of attacks on BEAD by a certain segment of lawmakers and regulators, T-Mobile getting in some hot water after reneging on its lifetime price lock  for subscribers, and what we can expect from the aftermath of the 2024 election. Join us live on October 24, at 2pm ET or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Friday, September 27th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guest Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and special guests Matt Larsen (Vistabeam) and Sascha Meinrath (X-Lab) to talk about the Cox v. Rhode Island case and hear about some recent wireless deployments in the fixed wireless space that dramatically reduce the cost per passing while still delivering multi-gigabit speeds. Will we finally hit 100 episodes in 2024? You’ll have to join us to find out. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Thursday, September 12th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about Verizon buying Frontier, AT&T working with Gigapower on open access efforts, Charter still not deploying CBRS, and more. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Thursday, August 29 at 4:30pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell and Travis Carter will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about the growth of the Fixed Wireless Access service marketplace by the large mobile carriers, proposed changes to CBRS spectrum sharing rules that could prove to be a boon for innovation and low-cost deployment, the bundling problem with TV and sports, and where to get your telecom news in a world where good journalism is getting gutted. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us on Thursday, August 15th at 2:30pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell and Travis Carter will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guests Alexis Shrubbe (University of Chicago) and Sean Gonsalves (ILSR) to talk about Brownsville, Texas lighting up its first subscriber, SpaceX’s claim to be a good fit for BEAD dollars, and SiFi partnering with T-Mobile. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Wednesday, July 31st at 3pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell and Travis Carter will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) along with special guest Case Lide (Keller and Heckman) to talk about T-Mobile buying Metronet, USF being cancelled by the Fifth Circuit, free municipal fiber in North Kansas City, Charter and Comcast losing more subscribers, and more. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Friday, July 19th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell and Travis Carter will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and recurring guest Gigi Sohn (American Association for Public Broadband) to talk about net neutrality, the consequences we expect to see as a result of the recent striking down of chevron deference, and updates to the e-rate program to privilege hot-spot solutions for poor connectivity.  Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Friday, June 28th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell and Travis Carter will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about library speed test maps in Texas and broadband plans in San Antonio, whether Starlink will mess with the ozone layer, music giant Sony trying to bully Cox into disconnecting users who engage in IP infringement, and the recent Colorado law aimed at improving competition in MDUs. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Friday, June 7th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell and Travis Carter will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Robert Boyle (Planet Networks) as well as special guest Blair Levin to talk about how state broadband offices are faring under the pressure of BEAD (some not so well), the conundrum of reaching every unserved home with insufficient funds, how medium providers are continuing the spirit of ACP while elected leaders like Ted Cruz attack straw-man versions of the program, and more.

Join us Friday, May 24th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell and Travis Carter will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) along with special guests Alexis Schrubbe (University of Chicago) and Brian Snider. They’ll talk about how the devil’s in the details with the BEAD program, movement in California surrounding digital discrimination, and Minnesota repealing its state preemption law. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Friday, May 3rd at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell and Travis Carter will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) with special guests Sean Stokes (Partner, Keller and Heckman) and Roger Timmerman (UTOPIA Fiber). On the docket: the return of net neutrality (and whether it matters), the appeals court decision upholding New York state’s affordable broadband law, and our first takeaway from the new broadband nutrition labels. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program represents a generational investment in new infrastructure, and will no doubt bring new fiber connections to millions of households around the country. Is the current state of middle mile in the United States ready? Join us Friday, April 12th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and a special guest to tackle the often-neglected pathways that connects our cities and towns back to the core networks that make up the Internet. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Friday, March 29th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guest Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and special guest Gigi Sohn (American Association for Public Broadband) to talk about whether a recent punishment by the FCC against an ISP for overreporting coverage signals an appetite for meaningful change in the challenge process, a bill amendment that would hamstring New York’s Municipal Infrastructure Program, and much more. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Friday, March 15th at 1:30pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guest Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and special guests Brian Snider (formerly Lit Communities) and Matthew Rantanen (Waskawiwin) to talk about finally getting a new federal definition of broadband, where the Rural Tribal Priority Window stands today, the value of feasibility studies in 2024, and bulk billing practices in multi-dwelling units (MDUs) around the country. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Friday, March 1st at 3pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guest Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and special guest Gigi Sohn (American Association or Public Broadband) to talk about the 2024 Metro Connect conference, multi-dwelling units, AT&T’s fixed wireless dreams, and municipal network developments in Fort Pierce, Florida and elsewhere before ending the show with the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

On the most recent episode of the Connect This! Show, co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) were joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) tackle the hard questions in digital equity work now that the ACP is going away. Among the discussion: FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel’s recent appearance at the national Net Inclusion conference, and what we can learn from her remarks about how to move ahead productively while avoiding easy mistakes and making sure we stay committed to the course. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Friday, February 2nd at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) to talk a new report from ILSR on the surge of community owned networks we saw spring up over the last two years, whether the FCC has forever abrogated its power to fine bad actors, and the tension between margins for ISPs and public policy efforts to incent affordable services for those households in need. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Tuesday, January 16th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting), Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber), and special guest Roger Timmerman (Executive Director UTOPIA Fiber) to prognosticate all of the broadband things for 2024: will ACP get renewed? Which states will get BEAD right, and which are showing signs of cracking under the pressure? What did we see at CES that will impact the broadband market? Is the fiber market going to pause? Tune in for titillating discussion on these topics and many more. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Wednesday, December 13th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber). They’ll talk about what we saw in 2023, whether there’s hope for an ACP renewal (it doesn’t look good), why there’s so much unused capacity in government-built fiber networks today, and special guest Gigi Sohn (American Association for Public Broadband) joins to talk some more about the reanti-municipal network dark money campaign that has inexplicably come out of the woodwork. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Friday, December 1st at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and special guest Mike Dano (Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading) to tackle the future of LTE networks – how did we get here, and where are we going? They’ll talk about what happened to the 5G hype train, rural mobile wireless, market dynamics, and more. Go back and watch The Only History of LTE You’ll Ever Need to catch up on part one of the discussion. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Wednesday, November 15th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) to talk about the FCC’s digital discrimination docket, open access fiber in Canada, progress on community broadband in Chelan, Washington, and a couple bonus topics to boot. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Wednesday, November 1st at 3pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) to talk about the White House asking for $6 billion to keep the Affordable Connectivity Program alive through 2024, solutions for multi-dwelling units (MDUs), and NTIA relaxing the Letter of Credit rules for upcoming BEAD grant applications. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Wednesday, October 11th at 3pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber), with special guest Matt Larsen (Vistabeam) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Join us Thursday, September 28th at 3pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guest Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber), with special guest Sean Gonsalves (ILSR) to tackle the promised return of net neutrality rules by the FCC, Google Fiber’s recently announced ACP plans, why the word “monopoly” seems in such short supply in the BEAD plans states have begun to file, and the future of spectrum sharing in the United States. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

On the most recent episode of the Connect This! Show, co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) were joined by regular guest Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and industry veteran and returning guest Heather Gold (HBG Strategies) to talk about why we don’t see more cities doing deals with entities like Google Fiber, what we can expect now that Anna Gomez has been confirmed to the FCC, and what it means for BEAD grantees if the Affordable Connectivity Program goes away. Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show. Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.