Beyond the Cable with Brad Randall

Broadband Communities
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  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED SEMIMONTHLY

Beyond the Cable covers the broadband industry and how it's changing America.

  1. 1D AGO

    What 41% of renters now expect and why instant-on connectivity matters

    Connectivity is a key part of decision making when renters are considering where to live, according to Elizabeth Parks, the president and CMO of Parks Associates. Parks joined Ilan Eframian, a VP from Xfinity Communities, on Beyond the Cable to discuss some of the insights revealed in recent research by Parks Associates, which closely studies the broadband and multifamily markets.

    15 min

  2. FEB 25

    Uncertainty and concern mounts for BEAD providers in Minnesota

    Requirements asking providers to submit written statements pledging not to take additional subsidies to complete and operate BEAD projects have had a chilling effect, according to Bree Maki, the director of Minnesota's office of broadband development. Maki made the comments in her recent appearance on Beyond the Cable, a Broadband Communities podcast. She said providers using subsidies from the Universal Service Fund have been most hesitant to participate in the government's $42.45 billion broadband spend, known as the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. "There's just a level of uncertainty," she said, referencing the announcement from Arielle Roth last November directing states to obtain the written statements.

    22 min

  3. FEB 13

    Operating with urgency: Discussing Ezee Fiber's growth with CEO Matt Marino

    Ezee Fiber has grown rapidly in recent years, with aggressive expansion efforts in markets like Houston, New Mexico, and the Pacific Northwest. The fiber internet provider's CEO, Matt Marino, recently joined Beyond the Cable—a Broadband Communities podcast—to discuss the company's quickly expanding footprint and talked strategy. Marino said a sense of urgency is incredibly important.  "This is a highly competitive business, it is a highly complicated business," he said, adding that there are lots of moving parts that need to be tracked and managed.

    18 min

  4. FEB 2

    Why Everyone Wins When Smaller ISPs Succeed

    Jon Carlson, a senior vice president of business development at Ibex, explains why everyone wins with a healthy ISP ecosystem, not just the corporations. "Yes, success for those tier two and tier three (ISPs) is super important for those organizations, for those companies," he said, appearing on a recent episode of Beyond the Cable. "But it's really super important for the populations that their servicing, who just have not had the access that they deserve."In this interview, Carlson shares some of his takes about how smaller ISPs can meet the challenge of growth. As he says, "it's the mechanics of the day to day that actually allows growth to happen." Find out what he means here, in Part 1 of his appearance on Beyond the Cable, a Broadband Communities Summit podcast.Learn more about Broadband Communities Summit at bbcmag.com/summit.

    21 min

  5. JAN 8

    Analyzing GPC's data center pivot with Christopher Sikora

    Christopher Sikora, the CRO of Great Plains Communications (GPC), shares how GPC strategically positioned themselves to lean into a data center-driven marketplace. According to Sikora, factors that have propelled GPC to answer the call of changing connectivity demands include a variety of factors. Listen to the full episode to find out why Sikora says competency, a willingness to think differently, financial stability, and company culture play big into GPC's ability to answer the call.

    19 min

  6. 12/01/2025

    Make construction sexy again? One CEO thinks it's time.

    Trent Edwards, the CEO of TAK Broadband, is worried about the future of the workforce in the telecommunications industry. "We don't do a good job of making sure that the younger generation understands the opportunity within construction," he said. According to Edwards, many hold assumptions that construction work is unpleasant because it requires working outside in many different conditions. "And the people that do that, they want to do that," he said. "They have that in their DNA. It's a respectable and highly looked upon job in my opinion." However, Edwards said the younger generation doesn't think network construction work is sexy. He said the negative perceptions will cause issues down the line, making it hard to recruit talent. "We've got to do a better job at promoting that and bringing construction back," he said. "We've got to make it sexy again."

    18 min

  7. 11/21/2025

    Extinction faces telecoms that don't adopt AI transformations

    The telecommunications industry gets a bad reputation as being slow to adapt new technologies. It's one that Abhishek Sandhir, the managing director of Sand Technologies' telecommunications division says is not wholly earned. There's a lag between other industries because of the investment required to fund technological transformations, Sandhir said while speaking to Beyond the Cable at Connected Britain. Instead, telecommunications investments are focused on building new infrastructure. "That's why you see that lag in adopting the technology because the focus is on maintaining the lead compared to the competitors," he said. "That only comes with investment in the current way of thinking. That's what we're trying to change."

    8 min

  8. 11/11/2025

    Consolidation doomsday fears in the UK fail to pan out

    James Page, the CEO of Proactive International PR, said era of buildouts by so-called altnets in the United Kingdom has given way to a new chapter, where investors want their money back. Altnets, a shortened term for smaller alternate network providers, remain buoyant in the UK, despite earlier predictions from some that a consolidation doomsday would arrive. "There is still more investment to come," Page said. "We've been talking for some time in this market about when consolidation was going to particularly hit and how quickly that was going to happen, and that seems to be something that's never quite hit." Earlier fears connected to overbuilds have not necessarily played out either, Page said. "Now when you've got 120, maybe more, altnets and there hasn't been yet that much consolidation, then there is definitely competition between them," he added. "I think that's entirely a good thing."

    10 min
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Beyond the Cable covers the broadband industry and how it's changing America.

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