Connect This!

By Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Connect This! offers an irreverent and inside look at broadband tech and policy. Each week features people with direct experience building networks or working on policy to improve broadband access. We... more

· Technology

5

22 ratings

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FAQs about Connect This!:

How many episodes does Connect This! have?

The podcast currently has 113 episodes available.

Connect This! episodes:

April 18, 2025The Future of Passive Optical Networks | Episode 112 of the Connect This! Show
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.
...more
1h 16min
March 28, 2025The Most Consequential Year in Telecom History Since 1996 | Episode 111 of the Connect This! Show
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.
...more
1h 18min
March 14, 2025The Revolving Door, the Limit of Public Dollars, and Whether the Maps Will Matter After BEAD | Episode 110 of the Connect This! Show
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.
...more
1h 16min
March 07, 2025BEAD: The Metamorphosis | Episode 109 of the Connect This! Show
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.
...more
1h 17min
February 12, 2025 Advancements in Cable Networks – Connect This! Show Episode 108Coming up: Connect This! Show Episode 108
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.
...more
1h 15min
January 28, 2025 Frontiers in Fiber Optic Sensing | Episode 107 of the Connect This! Show
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.
...more
1h 15min
January 06, 2025 What We Expect in 2025 | Episode 105 of the Connect This! Show
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.
...more
1h 16min
December 13, 20242024 in Review | Episode 104 of the Connect This! Show
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.
...more
1h 11min
November 26, 2024What Comes Next | Episode 103 of the Connect This! Show
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.
...more
1h 9min
November 12, 2024Dear Rural America: Starlink and Mobile Wireless Are Not Coming to Save You | Episode 102 of the Connect This! Show
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.
...more
1h 14min

FAQs about Connect This!:

How many episodes does Connect This! have?

The podcast currently has 113 episodes available.

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