Date: Thursday, September 17th, 2026
Time: In-person — 7:30am – 3:00pm | Livestream — 8:30am – 3:00pm
(Full agenda below!)
Why Attend?
We encourage you to join us in person for the full experience (and lunch will be included)!

Event Hosts

Basil Alwan
CEO
Tarana
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Carl Guardino
VP of Gov Affairs & Policy
Tarana
Guest Speakers & Moderators

Adam Cassady
Deputy Assistant Secretary
NTIA

Louise Fischer
Program and Project Supervisor
CPUC

Ana Maria Johnson
Deputy Executive Director
CPUC

Sam Liccardo
Congressman
16th District of California

Ramón Hobdey-Sánchez
SBO
Idaho

Patrick Haggerty
SBO
Nebraska

Ariane Schmidt
Executive Director
Broadlinc

Mark Chinn
Co-Founder and COO
Twist Broadband

Joshua Edmonds
CEO
Digital C

James Hackett
COO
Cruzio Internet

Maribeth Collins
VP, Legislative Affairs
CCA

Chip Pickering
CEO
INCOMPAS

Steven Schwerbel
Director, State Advocacy
WISPA

Richard Bernhardt
VP, Spectrum and Industry
WISPA

Sergiu Nedevschi
CSO, Co-Founder
Tarana

Dirk Gates
SVP, Customer Experience
Tarana

Mike Calabrese
VP, Sales
Tarana
Agenda
7:30am — Registration & Refreshments
8:30am — Welcome and Fireside Chat with Special Guest FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty
This interactive conversation will cover "a spectrum" of key telecom priorities, ranging from infrastructure deployment and regulatory reform to universal service, national security, and the future of spectrum, 6G, and AI.
9:15am — Panel One: A.I. (Awesome Internet) — The Intersection of Policy & Technology
How does AI impact telecom? How are growing pressures on the supply chain impacting ISPs, technology companies, and our public sector partners?
Morning Stretch & Refresh
10:20am — Panel Two: Multi-State is Still Great: State & Federal Grant Programs are Vital to Close the Digital Divide
While millions of American families and locations will be covered through BEAD, many more were not captured on BSL maps and there are new neighborhoods being built every day. what is the role of other federal and state grant programs to close the gap?
Break
11:30am — Panel Three: Spectrum: Sharing is Caring!
CBRS "The Innovation Band" launched just six years ago and has been an incredible success...but not everyone agrees. What has CBRS accomplished? What can be strengthened? Are increased "power levels" needed, or is it "power politics?"
12:10pm — Lunch
1:10pm — Panel Four: To BEad, or Not to BEad — Implementation is the Question
From supply chains, labor constraints, and new maps revealing more BSLs, how are states and ISPs "meeting the moment" to deliver on BEAD? What else needs to be done?
Break
2:10pm - 3:00pm — Closing Keynote with Tarana CEO Basil Alwan: Making the Impossible, Possible — Tarana Technology: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Event Hosts

Basil Alwan
CEO
Tarana
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Carl Guardino
VP of Gov Affairs & Policy
Tarana
Guest Speakers & Moderators
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Olivia Trusty
Commissioner
FCC

Sam Liccardo
Congressman
U.S. House of Representatives

Jay Obernolte
Congressman
U.S. House of Representatives
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Tricia Paoletta
Sr. Advisor for Spectrum
NTIA
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Jordan Arnold
Director
Washington State Broadband Office

Peter Voderberg
Chief
BroadbandOhio

Megan Minor
Chief
Indiana Broadband Office

Mike Sanders
Executive Director
Oklahoma Broadband Office

Chandler Vaughan
Director
Virginia Office of Broadband

Veneeth Iyengar
Executive Director
ConnectLA
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Joseph Le
Deputy Dir. of Broadband Development
Kansas Dept. of Commerce

Chris Lehane
Chief Global Affairs Officer
OpenAI
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Claude Aiken
Chief Strategy Officer
Nextlink
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Iyad Tarazi
President & CEO
Federated Wireless

Joshua Edmonds
CEO
DigitalC

Jill Springer
Principal Consultant
Quadra Partners

Joey Wender
Executive Director
SHLB Coalition

Drew Clark
CEO
Broadband Breakfast
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Staci Pies
VP of Gov Affairs & Policy
INCOMPAS

Louis Peraertz
VP of Policy
WISPA

Dave Wright
Global Policy Director
Spectrum for the Future

Dirk Gates
SVP of Customer Experience
Tarana

