Advertise on podcast: Connect This!

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.