This week: Geoff Burke, SVP of government affairs at DZS, joins the show to discuss what the BEAD and Middle Mile programs get right versus prior efforts to close the US digital divide.

Nicole Ferraro, Editor, host of 'The Divide' podcast

May 15, 2023

At a Glance

  • How the BEAD and Middle Mile programs compare to past efforts to close the US digital divide (02:15)
  • Takeaways from US broadband leaders on how different states are structuring their BEAD grant programs (06:00)
  • DZS' perspective on Buy America rules and BEAD's fiber focus (10:22)

This episode features Geoff Burke, senior vice president of government affairs and product marketing at DZS, a supplier of access networking and cloud software solutions. We discuss the federal government's forthcoming $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program and what DZS is hearing from state broadband leaders on how they're planning to award their share of those funds. We also talk about how DZS is preparing to meet the opportunity presented by federal funding, and much more.

Read more about:

The Divide

About the Author(s)

Nicole Ferraro

Editor, host of 'The Divide' podcast, Light Reading

Nicole covers broadband, policy and the digital divide. She hosts The Divide on the Light Reading Podcast and tracks broadband builds in The Buildout column. Some* call her the Broadband Broad (*nobody).

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