The Broadband Bunch

This episode of The Broadband Bunch features a conversation between host Pete Pizzutillo and Scott Neuman, Corporate Vice President of Marketing at Calix, recorded at Calix Connections 2025 in Las Vegas.

Scott shares how Calix is redefining the broadband industry’s approach to AI, customer education, and ecosystem collaboration. He explains how Calix helps service providers move beyond AI “literacy” toward true AI fluency, enabling them to understand, trust, and strategically deploy AI to transform their operations. The discussion covers the importance of building a solid data foundation, the rise of agent-based architectures, and how Calix’s “layer cake” approach ensures that AI initiatives deliver measurable value rather than short-lived hype.

Pete and Scott also explore how broadband providers can quantify business impact—from churn reduction and customer success strategies to driving adoption through data insights. Newman offers an inside look at Calix’s Connections On Demand virtual follow-up event, new innovations in SmartLife services, and how AI is enabling a new era of hyper-personalized marketing and customer engagement.

The episode closes with a forward-looking discussion on BEAD funding, industry consolidation, and what it really takes for ISPs to thrive in an AI-driven broadband economy.

This episode of The Broadband Bunch was recorded live at Calix ConneXions 2025, where host Pete Pizzutillo sat down with Bob Carrick, Director of Global Strategy at Calix Cloud.

In this conversation, Bob walks through Calix’s cloud evolution—from its early managed Wi-Fi roots to today’s full-scale broadband platform that integrates Operations, Service, and Engagement Clouds. He shares how Calix’s latest innovations in AI and cloud migration to Google are redefining customer experience, network efficiency, and operational visibility for broadband providers.

Together, Pete and Bob unpack the challenges and opportunities of adopting AI in telecom—from eliminating data silos to building trust through human-in-the-loop models and agent-to-agent automation. They explore the role of industry standards (like TR-369 and MCP) in enabling interoperability, and how these frameworks will shape the next wave of AI-driven transformation across the broadband ecosystem.

Bob also discusses customer success stories, the importance of education and adoption, and how Calix is helping ISPs increase profitability, reduce truck rolls, and prepare for future M&A opportunities.

In this episode of The Broadband Bunch, host Pete Pizzutillo sits down with Jeff Wabik of DC BLOX for a tour of how modern data centers are conceived, powered, cooled, and connected—especially across the underserved Southeast. Jeff traces his tinkerer roots (think Heathkit computers at age 12) through launching one of the earliest ISPs in the late ’80s, to helping build DC BLOX’s “bunker-plus-connectivity” model and its evolution from regional edge facilities to hyperscale projects—including a Myrtle Beach cable landing station serving global web giants.

Jeff discusses what it takes—from site selection and power realities to five-nines reliability and Tier III design—to deliver on the simple promise of “doing what you said you would do.” He talks through today’s biggest constraints—grid capacity, generator and fiber lead times, and skilled labor gaps—and where innovation fits, from AI-assisted construction verification to smarter alarm reduction across tens of thousands of sensors. Along the way, he offers candid career advice (keep reinventing yourself—and don’t forget sunscreen) and a pragmatic view on on-site generation (natural gas today, nuclear tomorrow?) to meet AI-era demand.

In this episode of The Broadband Bunch, host Pete Pizzutillo sits down with Felix Virto, Director of Operations at Blue Streak, and Stephen Rose, CEO of Render Networks, to explore how funding realities, digital transformation, and AI are reshaping large-scale fiber builds. Felix shares his 29-year journey from climbing poles in southwest Virginia to leading complex deployments—and why Blue Streak’s recent acquisition by a global parent sharpened its focus on customer outcomes, transparency, and choosing the right partners. Stephen traces a path from construction drafting through Nokia/Bell Labs and IBM to Render, explaining how cloud, data, and AI-driven workflows are changing “pre-live” delivery.

Together, they unpack the industry’s scale problem—billions in construction spend, countless handoffs—and make the case for field-first tools, real-time visibility, and stronger collaboration across operators, designers, and builders. Their playbook for operators: sponsor change from the top, start with a focused use case, co-innovate with partners, and make the field the hero so quality data flows up and better decisions flow down.

In this episode of The Broadband Bunch, host Pete Pizzutillo sits down with Lee Comer Jr., CEO of Go-Broadband, and Jeremiah Sloan of VETRO FiberMap to explore disaster recovery in the broadband industry. With extreme weather events increasingly impacting infrastructure, the conversation centers around real-world recovery efforts, the chaos of day-one response, and the emotional and operational challenges providers face when networks go down.

Lee and Jeremiah share guidance on how operators can prepare before disaster strikes—emphasizing the importance of having a single source of truth, building network path diversity, and developing a proactive, well-communicated recovery plan. They also discuss how disaster planning intersects with daily operations, how to make the business case for resiliency, and why a structured approach to restoration can mean the difference between days or weeks of downtime.

In this episode of The Broadband Bunch, host Brad Hine is joined by Jeff Boozer, VP of Broadband Strategy at ETI Software, and Don Eben, CEO of CORE Consults, for a conversation on what it really takes for broadband providers to succeed with artificial intelligence. While AI is being hailed as the future of telecom operations, the trio cuts through the buzz to explore the foundational elements that make AI effective—namely, high-quality data, robust integration, and a strategic focus on interoperability.

Drawing on their experience across the broadband ecosystem, Jeff and Don explain why many providers are struggling to implement AI in a meaningful way. The discussion covers how to break down legacy data silos, the importance of defining a “gold” data standard, and how to move from isolated tools to an enterprise-level data and integration strategy. They emphasize that AI should not be viewed as a human replacement but rather as an enabler for faster, smarter decision-making—from customer service to network maintenance to executive dashboards.

The conversation also explores the growing preference for best-in-class systems over end-to-end platforms and how this shift is driving the need for interoperability across OSS, BSS, GIS, and beyond. As Brad notes, AI success doesn’t begin with the model—it begins with the data architecture and the ability to integrate that data cleanly and contextually.

In this episode of The Broadband Bunch, recorded at Mountain Connect 2025 in Denver, host Brad Hine sits down with Peter Cresse, President of Entropy, a leading technology advisory firm. Together, they explore how artificial intelligence is beginning to transform broadband networks—from predictive maintenance and latency reduction to the rise of AI agents that will reshape how providers manage and optimize their infrastructure.

Peter shares highlights from his pre-conference session “Accelerating AI into Broadband” alongside thought leaders from Nokia and Newby Ventures. They discuss where AI delivers immediate value for ISPs, the role of data centers in driving innovation, and why data quality and integration strategies are essential foundations for success.

In this episode of The Broadband Bunch, recorded at Mountain Connect 2025 in Denver, host Brad Hine sits down with Robin Olds, Senior Business Development Manager at Cisco Systems. Together, they explore Cisco’s pivotal role in shaping the future of broadband—from reimagining network architecture with routed optical networking to advancing AI-driven connectivity and capacity management.

Robin shares insights into Cisco’s broadband initiatives, including support for rural and tribal providers, engagement with federal funding programs like BEAD and ReConnect, and the company’s long-standing legacy in internet innovation. They also discuss how service providers can prepare for the growing demands of AI, streaming, and bandwidth-intensive applications by moving compute closer to the network edge.

In this episode of The Broadband Bunch, host Brad Hine sits down with Drew Beverage, Chief Operating Officer of 360 Broadband, from the floor at Mountain Connect in Denver. Drew shares the story of 360 Broadband’s evolution from a fixed wireless provider to a hybrid network operator bringing fiber to some of the most rural areas in Oklahoma and Texas. With 96 competitors in their expansive 12,000-square-mile footprint, Drew emphasizes that price is not their differentiator—customer experience is.

The conversation explores how 360 Broadband is using innovative tools and AI-powered platforms like GoCare, QC.AI, Actifai, and Sonar to meet customers where they are, proactively communicate during outages, and personalize service at scale. Drew walks through the operational benefits of text-based support, intelligent call scoring, and AI-driven self-service sales that happen even after midnight—all backed by real-time data and seamless system integrations.

Listeners will also hear Drew reflect on his personal journey from tower climber to telecom COO, his early days in the family business, and the leadership values that continue to guide his team today. With his trademark humility and wit, Drew offers insight into the changing broadband landscape, from BEAD funding complexities to the future of rural connectivity, and why an open ecosystem of best-in-class vendors is key to staying competitive.

In this episode of The Broadband Bunch, host Pete Pizzutillo speaks with Tracy Doaks, President and CEO of MCNC. Tracy shares her journey from state CIO to leading MCNC, which operates the North Carolina Research and Education Network.

She discusses MCNC’s 5,000 miles of fiber, its role in telehealth, and how middle-mile networks empower last-mile providers to serve rural communities. The conversation covers broadband as infrastructure of opportunity, the impact of public-private partnerships, challenges with funding and affordability, and the growing importance of cybersecurity and resiliency. Tracy emphasizes how broadband adoption fuels education, healthcare, job creation, and thriving economies across North Carolina.