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Light Reading Podcasts
What Will Make Cities Smarter?
Recorded at last week's CNG2019 event in Denver, Light Reading's Alan Breznick interviews Mari Silbey, the director of communications for US Ignite. Silbey, a former Light Reading editor, is also director of the US Ignite Forum, a program that brings local government officials and their partners together to share smart city challenges, strategies and best practices. Breznick quizzes Silbey on what makes a city smarter, what opportunities there are for network operators in this effort and what examples we can look at to find out how city governments and service providers have gone from squabbling about TV franchise rights to building cities of the future. Before that discussion, Light Reading's Phil Harvey kicks off the podcast with a quick rant about why he doesn't live in a smart city (and neither do you).
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The Divide: Why digital inclusion needs a new funding model
32:57||Season 6This week: Connect Humanity's Samantha Schartman and Mission Telecom's Mark Colwell discuss their 'Alt Funding Field Guide,' which explores a new approach to co-investing in digital adoption initiatives focusing on six sectors.
Policy, tech and convergence to collide at The Independent Show
50:50||Season 1NCTC's Lou Borrelli and ACA Connects' Grant Spellmeyer hop on the podcast to preview The Independent Show, set for July 26-29 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, which will dig into top policy issues and tech trends for small and midsized operators.
The Divide: SHLB's Joey Wender on the fight to save E-Rate
25:26||Season 6This week: Joey Wender, executive director of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB), joins to discuss the FCC's 'war on the E-Rate program' and what advocates can do to help save it.
The Divide: NDIA's Angela Siefer on the fight to restore the Digital Equity Act
27:34||Season 6This week: NDIA's Angela Siefer returns to the podcast to discuss what's happened in the digital inclusion space since the Digital Equity Act was 'ended' by President Trump last year as well as ongoing efforts to restore funding.
The Divide: Gigi Sohn on how to defeat opponents of public broadband
28:42||Season 6This week: Gigi Sohn discusses how 'dark money' defeated a public broadband plan in Longmeadow, Mass., why anti-muni-broadband efforts work in some towns but not others and why grassroots buy-in is key to public broadband success.
The Divide: How permitting problems delay broadband builds
31:27||Season 6This week: Execs with Brightspeed, Ziply Fiber and CentraCom discuss the biggest problems with broadband permitting; how inconsistent timelines, requirements and costs cause deployment delays; and what reforms are most needed.
Wireless Infrastructure Association CEO braces for the AI and 6G era
34:31||Season 1Patrick Halley, the president and CEO of the Wireless Infrastructure Association, discusses the top trends in the industry and how AI and 6G are poised to come together.
The Divide: Blair Levin on 30 years of the Telecom Act and what must come next
34:59||Season 6Former FCC official Blair Levin joins the podcast to discuss BEAD program updates and how the federal government can best prepare for the future of connectivity and AI as we mark 30 years of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
The Divide: Carol Mattey on BEAD hope and hysteria, and stalled USF reform
38:34||Season 6This week: Former FCC official Carol Mattey joins the podcast to discuss the outcome of states' revised BEAD plans and what's next, as well as why she's not optimistic the Universal Service Fund will be reformed anytime soon.