Broadband Breakfast on May 20, 2026 – Broadband Breakfast at Fiber Connect

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Join Broadband Breakfast on location at Fiber Connect 2026 for several special editions of Broadband Breakfast Live Online. We’ll bring you direct coverage from the fiber industry's premier annual gathering. The annual conference convenes network operators, equipment vendors, policymakers, and investors driving the next wave of fiber deployment across North America. Our on-the-ground events and video interviews will unpack the conversations defining the show floor, from implementation under federal broadband programs, to middle-mile buildouts to workforce challenges. We’ll also probe the competitive dynamics reshaping the broadband landscape. Tune in for analysis, exclusive interviews and deep insight into the policy and business intelligence that you expect from Broadband Breakfast.

Beyond BEAD, Fiber Industry Reflects Upon Use Cases at Fiber Connect 2026What is fiber’s expanding role in telehealth, precision agriculture, quantum networks and data centers?Broadband BreakfastBroadband Breakfast

Panelists

• HeidiJoy Harnegie, Vice President and General Manager, MaxxSouth Broadband
• Akul Saxena , Reporter and Development Associate, Broadband Breakfast
• Drew Clark(moderator), CEO and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Heidi Joy Harnegie is the Vice President and General Manager of MaxxSouth Broadband, where she holds full P&L responsibility and oversees operations, construction, engineering, and customer experience across a 3,500-mile network serving Mississippi and Alabama.

Reporter Akul Saxena studied Politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has experience working in the mergers and acquisitions space. He’s focused on economic mobility and tech policy, and how broadband infrastructure supports both.

Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing tool to collect and verify broadband data left unpublished by the Federal Communications Commission. As CEO and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media community advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative.