Pre-Conference Workshops

AI Foundations
for
Infrastructure
Leaders

3:00 – 5:00 pm  

This two‑hour workshop provides a clear, practical introduction to how modern AI systems work and why connectivity infrastructure, and particularly fiber, is becoming increasingly critical to the AI economy.

Participants will learn the essential mechanics behind neural networks, training processes, and large language models, followed by practical demonstrations of how modern AI tools can analyze information, automate workflows, and create useful outputs.

Led by: Allan Isfan, AI, Telecom, and Streaming Executive, AI Squared

Sessions

• AI Fundamentals Part 1 – The Technology: AI, Neural Networks, Tokens, Training, Inference and Fiber in the Machine | 3:00 PM – 3:50 PM 
  Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the technology landscape, but much of the discussion around AI remains abstract or overly technical. For infrastructure leaders, network operators, and industry professionals in the fiber ecosystem, understanding the fundamentals of AI is becoming essential.
• AI Fundamentals Part 2 – The Applications: Practical AI Hands on Demonstrations of Prompting, Video, Image Generation and Agents | 4:00 PM – 4:50 PM              
  The session concludes with a hands‑on segment where attendees will see how AI systems can be applied in real scenarios using tools such as NotebookLM, Google Nano Banana & VEO for image and video creation, and a simple no-code multi‑agent workflow anyone can create. Bring your laptop and play along or just watch the instructor’s demonstrations. if you wish to get hands on, it will help to have a Google account and an OpenAI/ChatGPT account ready to go).

No prior AI or machine learning background is required.

FBA Fiber Starter Toolkit

1:30 – 5:00 pm  

Build the foundation for a successful fiber business. Learn the steps, tools, and partnerships that turn ideas into operational networks.

Sessions

• Building a Cohesive Ecosystem — Align municipalities, utilities, schools, and vendors to accelerate deployment.
• Finding First Customers — Target segments, offers, and channels that convert early adopters.
• Navigating Local Roadblocks — Permitting, make-ready, and right-of-way strategies that prevent delays.
• FTTH Basics and Design — Core design principles and choices that set you up for scale.
• Driving Subscriber Growth — Proven marketing strategies for rapid fiber expansion.

Marketing & Customer Experience

1:30 – 5:00 pm  

Turn great networks into beloved brands. Measure what matters, win locally, and keep customers for life.

Sessions

• Marketing Metrics That Matter — The numbers every CMO should track and how to improve them.
• The Power of Local — Community-driven programs that out-perform national campaigns.
• From Engagement to Entanglement — Product-led CX that increases adoption and ARPU.
• Winning Customer Loyalty — Practical playbooks to reduce churn in broadband.

Scaling a
Shared Fiber
Future: A Full
Day on Open
Access

12:30 – 5:30 pm  

Sponsored By:

Open Access Day is the annual gathering for everyone serious about shared fiber infrastructure — network operators, ISPs, infrastructure investors, and technology partners, from regional challengers to national-scale platforms.

Now in its third year, Open Access Day 2026 runs as a pre-conference workshop on May 17 in Kissimmee, Florida, in partnership with Fiber Connect 2026.

Sessions

• Keynote and Fireside Chat: The Standardization Imperative — Building a Common Language for Open Access.
• Panel I: Built to Scale — How Open Access Architecture Accelerates Consolidation
• Panel II: Beyond Fiber — Open Access Across Fixed Wireless, Hybrid Builds, and Multi-Technology Infrastructure
• Panel III: What Travels and What Doesn’t — Lessons from Open Access Deployments Across Continents

Tech & tee times: 
An afternoon 
focused on the
everyday game

12:30 – 5:30 pm  

Sponsored By:

Join the Trusted Broadband Experts (Adtran, Corning, Vantage Point Solutions) for a workshop focused on the everyday broadband game. Planning, practice, and precision are critical in the game of golf and equally as important for broadband providers.

We’re taking principles from the course and bringing them into your BSP’s day-to-day. 

Sessions

• Overcoming hazards: Disaster recovery – Learn how fiber operators can build resilient networks and rapid response strategies.
• Club selections: Teams, technology and partners – Examine how leading providers are making smarter choices at every level to drive better outcomes.
• Course management: Navigating competition and industry advancements – Industry leaders discuss how to anticipate market shifts, outpace the competition, and capitalize on emerging technologies.
• Reading the green: Making KPIs count – Break down which metrics truly matter and translate data into decisions that move the needle for your business.

Why attend? Networking. Real-life BSP case studies. Peer best practices. KPI workshop. Raffles. Snacks. Happy hour. And a special guest speaker who knows all about speed, performance, and precision.

Support,
Amplified:
Using AI to
Transform Your
Support Team

1:00 – 2:00 pm  

Sponsored By:

Your support reps are hitting walls. Customers sit on hold while issues escalate through tiers, MTTR climbs, and satisfaction drops.

The problem isn’t your team, it’s that no rep can be expected to instantly navigate every vendor system AND recall each hyper-technical nuance of the network, all while maintaining a charming bedside manner.

This hands-on workshop, hosted by Preseem, tackles that challenge head-on.

You’ll hear directly from operators who are using AI to close the gap between their newest hire and their best veteran, and discover what it means to build a support team around empathy and people skills when the AI can handle the technical heavy lifting.

Then, you’ll have a chance to get your hands on the technology yourself. Not a demo, but real, live access. Walk away with a clear picture of what AI-assisted support looks like in practice, and how it can help provide faster answers, fewer escalations, and happier customers.

Calix
Connexions@Local
at Fiber Connect

12:30 – 5:30 pm  

Sponsored By:

As competitive pressures intensify, broadband leaders are expected to deliver growth, efficiency, and differentiated customer experience simultaneously. Meeting those expectations requires more than incremental change—it requires simplifying how organizations operate and applying AI with clear purpose to drive measurable outcomes.

Connexions@Local is an executive‑level, peer‑driven forum focused on how providers are reducing operational friction, aligning teams around a unified strategy, and using AI where it creates real impact. Through candid discussion and real‑world perspectives, attendees gain insight into how simplification enables speed, AI enables leverage, and alignment enables sustained performance in a rapidly evolving market.

Register here.

Omdia Insights:
What Leading
Fiber Providers
Are Doing
Differently

3:30 – 4:30 pm  

Sponsored By:

Join Omdia, CSG and leading fiber providers as we unpack the findings of Omdia’s latest US fiber market report and what they mean for operators under pressure to scale profitably. This workshop will focus on the issues that now define success in fiber: converting build momentum into subscriber growth, the critical first 90 days, delivering a better installation experience, reducing operational friction and building the technology foundation needed to compete in a tougher market.

Presented by:

• Jaimie Lenderman, Research Manager, Omdia
• Reid Jenkins, VP America, CSG