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Business Wire
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
New ThoughtWaves Documentary Explores the Untold Story of the Brilliant Minds, Breakthroughs, and Politics of Human Connection
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today at Fiber Connect 2025, the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) announced an exclusive first look of a new documentary, ThoughtWaves. The film interviews the most pivotal figures who created and shaped the modern, digital economy. It explores a story that began over fifty years ago, highlighting the stories of the brilliant minds, visionaries, and thought leaders across the areas of broadband policy, innovation, and adoption. Most importantly, it underscores the original intent of these founders and creators as we, today, work to connect every community to reliable broadband and grant everyone access to unlimited possibilities and opportunities. " ThoughtWaves is the story of how we connect everyone to a better future, in a world where access to the digital economy is synonymous with opportunity. To secure our nation's success, it is necessary to invest in robust broadband infrastructure. Fiber is the only technology that can support the capacity needed today and the future of connectivity,' said Gary Bolton, President and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association. 'This is the story of the impact we are having on the communities and people we serve, a story that is just now being told, and we are excited to see how it continues to evolve as everyone is afforded the same access to opportunity and hope.' The documentary traces the journey from the inception of the internet and the development of fiber optics to the current efforts aimed at bridging the digital divide. It showcases the conversations, conflicts, challenges, and brilliant minds that made closing the digital divide possible. It frames the critical role in ensuring equitable access to education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and technological advancements means to everyone, everywhere. Viewers will enjoy insights from industry pioneers, policymakers, and technologists, including: Vint Cerf, 'Father of the Internet' and VP and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google Laura Breeden, early internet activist, Founding Director of the Federation of American Research Networks (FARnet), Founding Director of the NTIA's Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program, and Co-Founder of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) Jean Armour Polly, 'Mother of the Internet,' early internet evangelist, known for her contributions welcoming nontechnical users to the internet and the first library to connect her library to the internet to provide community access Ajit Pai, former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Andy Berke, former Mayor of Chattanooga, the first Gig City Larry Irving, former head the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications Infrastructure Administration, key architect of internet policy including the 1996 Telecommunications Act to connect schools, first African American in the Internet Hall of Fame Dr. Karen Rheuban, Co-founder and Director of the UVA Center for Telehealth Teddy Bekele, Chief Technology Officer, Land-o-Lakes Blair Levin, former Chief of Staff for FCC Chairman Reed Hunt, Author of the National Broadband Plan The Honorable Juandieago Wade, Mayor of Charlottesville Dr. Tamarah Holmes, Director, Office of Broadband, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Kathryn de Wit, Project Director, Broadband Access Initiative, The Pew Charitable Trusts Joseph Wender, former Director of the Capital Projects Fund at the U.S. Treasury Department Shane Seibel, Executive Director of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe Growth Fund Kirk Lougheed, Cisco Fellow Dr. Christopher Ali, Pioneers Chair, Professor of Telecommunications, Penn State University, Author of Farm Fresh Broadband The documentary will have a private screening at Fiber Connect 2025 on June 2nd, providing attendees with a unique opportunity to engage with the film's themes and contributors. ThoughtWaves was developed in partnership with Cisco, Corning, Nokia, Bonfire, EPB, and GFiber. For more information about ThoughtWaves and to view trailers, visit About the Fiber Broadband Association The Fiber Broadband Association is the largest and only trade association that represents the complete fiber ecosystem of service providers, manufacturers, industry experts, and deployment specialists dedicated to the advancement of fiber broadband deployment and the pursuit of a world where communications are limitless, advancing quality of life and digital equity anywhere and everywhere. The Fiber Broadband Association helps providers, communities, and policymakers make informed decisions about how, where, and why to build better fiber broadband networks. Since 2001, these companies, organizations, and members have worked with communities and consumers in mind to build the critical infrastructure that provides the economic and societal benefits that only fiber can deliver. The Fiber Broadband Association is part of the Fibre Council Global Alliance, which is a platform of six global FTTH Councils in North America, LATAM, Europe, MEA, APAC, and South Africa. Learn more at
Associated Press
19-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
New Fiber Broadband Association Report: AI's Future Hinges on Fiber Broadband
The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) today released a groundbreaking report, Accelerating AI with Fiber: Systems and Strategies, highlighting fiber broadband as the foundation for AI-driven innovations across data centers, networks, and smart home applications. To create the report, FBA engaged with advisory firm Entropy, Inc., to study the impact of AI and fiber. The research simply reveals that AI needs data, data needs data centers, and data centers need fiber connectivity. As AI reshapes industries and drives skyrocketing data demands, the report underscores fiber broadband's critical role in delivering the ultra-fast speeds, low latency, and high-capacity infrastructure necessary to sustain AI's exponential growth. Without fiber, AI-powered advancements ranging from real-time cloud computing to autonomous systems will be limited by network constraints. The report highlights fiber's critical role across three key areas of AI-drive innovation: AI Data Centers: AI applications and deep learning models require vast amounts of data processing which fiber makes possible by ensuring seamless, high-speed connectivity between processors, GPUs, and cloud storage. AI's reliance on real-time, high-performance computing makes fiber indispensable to the modern data center. AI Fiber Networks: As AI advances, networks are evolving with AI-powered automation to manage bandwidth, enhance efficiency, and ensure low-latency performance. Fiber networks are being architected to support AI-ready infrastructures, accelerating edge computing, cloud connectivity, and real-time decision-making. AI Fiber Homes: AI-powered homes are emerging, where fiber connectivity enables Persistent Contextual Hyper Personalization (PCHP)- an AI-driven experience that adapts and learns from user behavior. This unlocks seamless telehealth, immersive gaming, and AI-led education, ensuring users receive hyper-personalized, real-time digital experiences. 'AI is only as powerful as the network that supports it,' said Gary Bolton, President, and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association. 'Fiber is the only broadband technology capable of delivering the speed, scalability, and reliability AI requires- from hyperscale data centers to smart homes. This report demonstrates why fiber is the backbone of the AI revolution.' Fiber broadband is more than just an enabler of AI- it is the infrastructure that will determine AI's success. The report emphasizes that today's networks cannot fully support the massive growth in AI applications, which require increased fiber density, expanded middle-mile infrastructure, and next generation fiber networks. AI's future depends on a fiber-powered ecosystem capable of supporting trillions of transactions, cloud-based learning models, and the integration of AI across industries including healthcare, logistics, retail, and IoT. The report also highlights real-world examples of AI and fiber convergence, including Lumen's Private Connectivity Fabric, Adtran's middle-mile optimization, and Calix's AI-driven operations cloud. Access the full report, Accelerating AI with Fiber: Systems and Strategies, here and stay updated by subscribing to the Fiber Broadband Association's weekly newsletter here. About the Fiber Broadband Association The Fiber Broadband Association is the largest and only trade association that represents the complete fiber ecosystem of service providers, manufacturers, industry experts, and deployment specialists dedicated to the advancement of fiber broadband deployment and the pursuit of a world where communications are limitless, advancing quality of life and digital equity anywhere and everywhere. The Fiber Broadband Association helps providers, communities, and policy makers make informed decisions about how, where, and why to build better fiber broadband networks. Since 2001, these companies, organizations, and members have worked with communities and consumers in mind to build the critical infrastructure that provides the economic and societal benefits that only fiber can deliver. The Fiber Broadband Association is part of the Fibre Council Global Alliance, which is a platform of six global FTTH Councils in North America, LATAM, Europe, MEA, APAC, and South Africa. Learn more at SOURCE: Fiber Broadband Association Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 03/19/2025 09:00 AM/DISC: 03/19/2025 09:02 AM
