Discussions at Fiber Connect 2026 addressed fiber deployments across a range of access and transport applications for broadband, wireless, data center and IoT uses.

Clearfield bills itself as “The Fiber to Anywhere Company” and offers a wide variety of patented designed and manufactured components and connectivity elements that help speed up fiber deployments at lower labor costs.

Anis Khemakhem, Chief Commercial Officer at Clearfield, joined John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor, at the event to discuss the opportunities and challenges with achieving efficient and cost-effective fiber deployments across a range of digital infrastructure applications. 

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Fiber Connect 2026 proved to be quite timely and significant at this point in the telecom industry with data center expansion booming, fiber builds ramping up with BEAD funding, and ongoing new tower construction.

Doug Wittrock, Chief Operating Officer at Network Connex sat down with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor at the event to share his perspectives and outlook on the opportunities and challenges with designing and building facilities across the range of digital infrastructure asset classes.

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Hyperscale data centers, (aka AI factories), are expanding rapidly to develop AI Large Learning Models. However, the notion of edge data centers for AI Inference and high-speed, low-latency applications is getting renewed attention.

Rod Carter and Jake Remington, partners at the telecom law practice at Husch Blackwell, discuss with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor, the issues related to planning, locating and operating edge data centers.

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The telecom industry is evolving from distinct wireless and wireline businesses into a broader digital infrastructure ecosystem. Ontivity is a company that is involved in a number of key aspects of designing and building a range of digital infrastructure asset classes.

Eric Chase, Executive Chairman of Ontivity, and Dave Mayo, Senior Technology Executive serving on the Ontivity board of directors share their perspectives on these developments with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor.

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 Any kind of RF interference at a call site will diminish connections to cell phones and cause poor service which leads to customer complaints. Unlike active interference from nearby antennas, PIM, or passive intermodulation interference, can be caused by many elements in and around a cell site on a tower. These conditions make PIM hard to detect and mitigate.
 
 Drew Martin, Sales Engineer-Interference with Valmont Telecom speaks with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor about PIM – what it is, how to detect it and how to minimize it.  

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Fiber is the key connectivity element that ties together all digital infrastructure asset classes, for consumers and Enterprises alike.

Gary Bolton, President & CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association, talks with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor, about the rapid growth, the outlook for the fiber broadband business and the upcoming Fiber Connect event.

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Private tower companies are active in new tower builds and site modifications response to mobile network operator demand for colocations and amendments associated with coverage and capacity expansion. But scaling a tower company involves permitting, financing, competition, and availability of quality assets to acquire.

Chas Peterson, Chief Commercial Officer and Aaron Bloom, Senior Vice President-Business Development with Harmoni Towers discuss with John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor the opportunities and challenges facing private tower companies as well as the overarching trends they’re seeing in the industry.

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The Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) opens its 2026 Mobility & Connectivity Show tomorrow in Louisville, Kentucky. In this Tower Talks podcast, CCA President and CEO Tim Donovan spoke with Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief Leslie Stimson before the show about hot topics for the association that represents competitive communications service providers and stakeholders across the United States. The NTIA’s BEAD program, spectrum access, permitting and the FCC’s Universal Service Fund are CCA priorities. So too, is where the Rip & Replace reimbursement fund stands. 

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A 1988 Chicago-area telecom fire exposed how dangerous traditional cabling materials were, and how digital infrastructure depends on reliable power systems. As data demand grows and network integrity becomes increasingly critical, power conversion products and cabling must deliver consistent quality, resilience, and performance across wireless and fiber networks, and in central offices, and data centers. 

In this episode, Jack Graves, Vice President, Strategic Verticals at Southwire, and Dave Nelson, Chief Operating Officer at Bekerle Consultants, join John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor, to discuss powering the network and the essential components that keep it operating reliably.

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Many delays have impacted the federal government’s BEAD program. This and other events have slowed getting shovels in the ground for government help for states and their contractors looking to expand broadband deployment.

In this Tower Talks podcast, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez speaks with Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief Leslie Stimson about broadband deployment, as well as contested issues like pole attachments, and what the Commission considers when opposing parties both want the same spectrum.

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