What Does it Really Mean to be a Leader in Broadband?

You might say that American infrastructure is at its best during times when the whole nation is united in a common goal. Large-scale infrastructure projects can have the effect of equalizing opportunity for Americans. In the last century, we brought highways and electricity across the nation. From mountains to desert, coast to coast.

This century, it’s broadband infrastructure that’s enabling jobs, education, communication, and access to information, just for starters.

A new award for broadband leaders

If you haven’t heard of the Connect the Unconnected award, from Corning and Endeavor Business Media, it’s a new award that honors individuals who are leading the way in connecting America to broadband.

Bob Whitman, Vice President of Global Market Development for Carrier Networks at Corning explains the purpose of the award: “Corning believes everyone should have access to reliable, high-speed internet, no matter where they live,” says Whitman. “This award recognizes people who disrupt the status quo and break down barriers that get in the way of connecting communities to life-changing fiber broadband.”

If you know someone who you’d like to nominate, you can do that here.

What does it look like to be a true leader in rural broadband?

Connecting the unconnected in rural America has its own unique infrastructure challenges that require particular kinds of leaders. Leaders who can operate in uncertainty and who can remain calm.

Difficult terrain, hard-to-reach locations, and very small local governments are just some examples of particular challenges for service providers, contractors, and equipment manufacturers.

But how many of us are aware of the individuals that lead these efforts? We think of the massive, united projects in the abstract, as something that just happens “out there” as we go about our lives. But we need to remember that every inch of fiber put in the ground, every splice made, every home connected is the direct result of decisions made at the individual level.

And every team has a leader who perhaps makes the crucial decisions that ultimately result in widespread connectivity infrastructure.

“Connecting the unconnected requires visionary leadership and dedication to bridge the digital divide,” says Whitman. “True community champions of this mission are committed and influential, proactively identifying underserved areas and implementing innovative solutions to overcome deployment challenges. Through their foresight and execution, they bring transformative fiber broadband to communities and significantly enhance quality of life.”

A common purpose

As I stated earlier, the nation as a whole ultimately needs to come together and be united in purpose for these types of massive, once in a generation infrastructure projects to become reality. It’s safe to say that a company that’s been around for about 150 years like Corning has knows what’s at stake and what’s required to get there.

“The current wave of public and private investment in broadband represents a tremendous opportunity not only for our industry, but for our communities and our country,” says Whitman. “It takes industry coordination and a collaborative ecosystem of, service providers, industry groups, and community leaders at all levels to connect the country to the next generation of broadband service. Corning is proud to be doing our part addressing many of the challenges to create faster and more cost-effective fiber deployments for all communities.”

Bob Whitman is a Navy veteran, as is Michael Bell, Corning's retired Senior Vice President and General Manager, Optical Communications. In a webinar with the Fiber Broadband Association, Bell likens leadership in broadband to the skills required in the military, where he says you’re trained to be “calm in the face of chaos.”

Bell also talked about the importance of a purpose-driven attitude. If there isn’t a sense of purpose, it can be difficult to motivate others, of course, and this goes for pretty much any industry.

“Being purpose-driven and helping others be purpose-driven as well, is inspirational to me … when our noble purpose directly correlates with our business purpose, people get it, and they just want to make a difference in the world.”

How to nominate someone for the Connect the Unconnected award

The Connect the Unconnected Award “recognizes the individual who, in the opinion of the award judges, has made the most significant contribution in the past year, bringing fiber broadband to an unserved or underserved community in North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It is expected that bringing fiber broadband to the community will provide life enhancing services to citizens of the community.”

If you know someone that you think deserves this award, you can nominate them here. The winner will be honored at Fiber Connect in June this year.