The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) kicked off its first full day at Fiber Connect 2023 yesterday at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando with a bundle of new research and resources for members, state broadband offices, and the fiber broadband community. The event’s stated goal is focusing its resources on growing the fiber technician workforce and helping every state deploy fiber broadband to every community to close the digital equity gap.
Gary Bolton, President and CEO of FBA, delivered the opening remarks for the proceedings calling the event “the primary driver of investment, deployment, and operation of next generation gigabit broadband networks.”
The FBA and Broadbandtoolkit.com announced at the show they have partnered to offer a suite of geospatial planning tools that FBA members can now access to visualize U.S. locations passed by fiber and other BEAD-eligible technologies, the performance and depth of fiber deployments, and where eligible unserved and underserved project areas exist. The three tools include Fiber Finder, the Fiber Strategy Toolkit, and the National Hex Toolkit.
The association and RVA LLC Market Research & Consulting also announced the release of their annual consumer research report titled “The Status of U.S. Broadband: The Growing Preference to Fiber Broadband.” The 2023 study reveals fiber broadband is considered the best internet service delivery method in terms of speed and reliability among 63 percent of all U.S. consumers, including 54 percent of cable users.
The show was the opening of FBA’s OpTIC Path™ workforce development mini course titled “Broadband Basics: Your Future is Fiber!” The mini course, co-created by Dura-Line Academy, will introduce broadband concepts and career opportunities, attract new students, and help close the gap in skilled technicians.
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