Fabric Forward 25 Rough Agenda
*Subject to Change*
3:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Event Check-In
Join us in the Olympic Ballroom at the Edgewater Hotel to check-in and grab your event badge.
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Welcome Reception
Join us in the Olympic Ballroom at the Edgewater Hotel for the Fabric Forward Welcome Reception, check-in, and grab your event badge.
8:00 Am – 9:00 am
Breakfast
Join us for breakfast from 8:00 to 9:00 AM.
8:30 Am – 9:00 Am
Office Hours
Come ask us our experts your specific questions.
9:00 Am – 10:15 Am
The Origin, Evolution, and Logic Behind the Location Fabric Data
Get an overview of the intricate and comprehensive development of the Location Fabric Data – The origin and evolution story behind the location data guiding grant programs such as NTIA’s BEAD, FCC Enhanced ACAM, and ISPs with broadband deployment.
Topics we’ll cover:
- CostQuest’s Fabric origin story & innovation-driven purpose
- Deep-dive into Location Fabric – What it is, why it matters, and the methodology behind it
- Driving federal programs & policy with granular data
10:15 Am – 11:00 Am
Keys to Wise Investments: Approaches to Achieve High ROI & Reduce Budget to Actual Cost Delta
Validating project cost, return on investment, and overall viability are keys to the kingdom when it comes to building wise network investments. But when it comes time to implement the project, will the modeled project cost hold true?
Explore proven network cost modeling and business case approaches that enable businesses to know from the get-go, to when the trucks start rolling, what the actual cost and investment return to implement the project will be.
Leading to investments that provide a positive economic outcome, and of course, a happy leadership team.
Topics we’ll cover:
- Why location-level cost modeling leads to smarter investments from the start
- Review trusted and proven National Cost Modeling & Profitability Analysis Methods:
- Approach
- Data inputs
- Steps
- Explore ways to fully leverage investment cost and business case data to reduce the delta between the project budget and actual cost
Speakers:
- Dan Gordon, AVP of Product and Expert Modeling
11:00 Am – 11:15 Am
Break & Office Hours
Come ask our experts your specific questions.
11:15 Am – 12:00 Pm
Data in Action: How Providers Build Workflows That Work Smarter, Not Harder
From insight to impact: Hear how providers use comprehensive location-level datasets to analyze competitor footprints, track growth trends, identify new high-ROI growth markets, qualify address service requests, and sync with internal systems to streamline operations and compliance.
Topics we’ll cover:
- How location-level data helps identify expansion opportunities
- How location-level data helps assess economic viability and narrowing down expansion markets to pursue
- How system to system integration with location-level data worked to streamline operations and integrate data into other departments
Speakers:
- Alex Meyer, Director for Database Systems
- Jack Nettleton, Senior Manager of Sales and Strategic Partnerships
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Lunch
Join us for lunch from 12:00 to 1:00 pm.
12:30 pm – 1:00 pm
Break & Office Hours
Come ask our experts your specific questions.
1:00 Pm – 1:30 Pm
From Query to Clarity: Mapping Opportunities & Benchmarking Costs with GIS & SQL
A Technical Workshop: How to use Fabric Location & Cost Data to uncover optimal expansion opportunities, compare cost benchmarks, and visualize the results using QGIS, ArcGIS, and SQL.
Topics we’ll cover:
- Review the following problem and solution statements, and what systems and techniques you can use to solve them:
- How to use service coverage, cost, and demographics data to find high-ROI growth markets
- How to use Fabric Cost Data to compare against internal cost models and visualize the results
Speakers:
- Leslie Stegeman, Senior Manager of R&D, GIS & AI Innovation
- Zach Taylor, Senior Data Scientist
1:30 Pm – 2:15 Pm
Financial Due Diligence to Know Where to Go, What to Build, & How to Win
In this session, we’ll combine deep market insight, financial modeling, and proprietary tools to help you uncover high-impact broadband opportunities – pinpointing where to go, what to build, and how to win. Our approach turns complex data into clear, strategic decisions that outpace the competition and result in positive ROI.
Topics we’ll cover:
- Competitive & Market Analysis: Evaluating market demand trends, take rates, pricing, and service offerings to assess realistic ARPU and market position.
- Financial Feasibility & Revenue Forecasting: Analyzing capital expenditures, revenue potential, customer behavior, and operating costs to determine high-level financial viability.
- Risk & Scenario Assessment: Including predictive models for adoption, incumbent response, and risks related to subsidized competitors and government funding.
- Advanced Analytical Tools: Utilizing trusted and proven proprietary cost modeling tools to identify optimal markets, run scenarios, and guide strategic decision-making for optimal results.
Speakers:
- Mike Wilson, VP & Chief Revenue Officer
- Cher Henton, AVP of Business Development
2:15 Pm – 3:00 Pm
Solutions to the Fabric Behind the Funding & Reporting Requirements
Get exclusive insight on how to navigate federal funding reporting requirements tied to the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric data.
Federal programs like BEAD and RDOF require ISPs to use the Fabric data when reporting progress on broadband build-out projects. The use of Fabric Locations as the foundation ensures consistent tracking of network deployment progress and reduces funding overlaps.
In this session, you’ll gain clarity on:
- How the Fabric is used for reporting requirements across funding programs (NTIA, FCC. Etc.)
- The nuanced relationship with the Fabric locations and the location data used historically in the FCC’s high-cost programs (pre-Fabric)
- What to know and keep in mind when it comes to matching your customer/location data to the Fabric locations for federal reporting requirements
- Especially for those needing to match HUBB filing data to the Fabric Locations due to the new FCC Fabric Ruling
Walk away with a complete understanding of the Fabric’s role in federal reporting requirements and what to keep in mind to make these mandated filings easier for your organization.
Funding Programs that require the use of the Fabric or alignment with are:
- NTIA’s BEAD
- Enhanced ACAM (E-ACAM)
- Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF)
- Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM)
- Revised A-CAM I
- A-CAM II
- Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund (PR Fund)
- Connect USVI Fund
Speakers:
- Brian Delidow, AVP of Custom Solutions
- Rachelle Medalia, Chief of Staff
- Panelists have been invited
3:00 Pm – 3:15 PM
Break & Office Hours
Come ask our experts your specific questions.
3:15 Pm – 3:45Pm
Data Innovations on the Horizon
Explore new tools and methods to simplify data analysis—from a library of custom functional APIs to historical time series data, get insight into data innovations designed to simplify data analysis, system-to-system integration, and data matching/synchronization.
Speakers:
- Nick Meiszer, Director of Product Development
3:45 Pm – 4:30 Pm
Next Steps in a Post BEAD World: What You Need to Know to Optimize Network Expansion Projects
As of October 2025, BEAD funding will be well underway, and the spotlight will soon shift from allocation to execution. With billions in network expansion awarded to ISPs, the focus will be:
- Strategically deploy capital to optimize public and private investments
- Analyzing competitor growth trends
- Predicting future network growth opportunities from MDUs to new neighborhood developments
Topics we’ll cover:
- Brief update on the current state of the BEAD program as of October 2025
- How can capital investments and public funding for network buildouts be wisely distributed
- Predicting growth:
- How to leverage data to gain intelligence on growing areas:
- How is your competition building? And if you don’t know, how do you predict growth?
- How do you find MDU and new neighborhood development opportunities? When will they pop up?
- How to compare growth trends across technologies for example Fixed Wireless, fiber, and satellite.
- Review simple data solution to easily uncover network expansion areas and predict where expansion is likely to go
- How to leverage data to gain intelligence on growing areas:
Learn how to utilize public and private investments effectively to build your network, easily analyze your competition’s growth trends, and predict new network growth opportunities.
Speakers:
- Jim Stegeman, President/CEO
- Mike Wilson, VP & Chief Revenue Officer
- Cher Henton, AVP of Business Development
4:30 – 6:30 Pm
Data on the Rocks Reception
Join us for drinks and appetizers.
8:00 Am – 9:00 am
Breakfast
Join us for breakfast from 8:00 to 9:00 AM.
8:30 Am – 9:00 Am
Office Hours
Come ask us our experts your specific questions.
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Filing Location Fabric Challenges: Best Practices and Lessons Learned
We’ve heard your questions and concerns about the Fabric data—especially around the Challenge Process—and we’re here to help however we can within our role on the Fabric project.
In this session, get a clear, in-depth look at the FCC’s Location Fabric Challenge Process, including best practices for submitting challenges, key timelines, and real-world examples of why challenges are accepted or denied.
Topics we’ll cover:
- Review the FCC Location Fabric Challenge Process – How it differs from the NTIA BEAD State Challenge Process
- Why the Challenge Process Exists – And why it goes through the FCC
- Who adjudicates challenges
- Types of Fabric Challenges
- Challenge Timeline – when you will see accepted challenges in the next version of the Fabric
- Best practices when submitting challenges
- Common reasons why a challenge didn’t get accepted
- Where to go for questions on Location Fabric Challenges
Speakers:
- Mark Guttman, Vice President & Chief Solutions Officer
- Alex Meyer, Director for Database Systems
- Zach Taylor, Senior Data Scientist
10:00 Am – 11:00 Am
The Effect of New Infrastructure Investments on Network Value – From M&A to Financing
Post-BEAD are investors coming to buy your ISP, finance it, or compete in your footprint? Will the dollars keep flowing into broadband on the corporate and government side, and where will they go? What about non-deployment funds or future grants?
No one can predict the future, so we’re focused on outlining some of the potential scenarios and what to consider. We’ll help you understand the value of your network in these scenarios, and what you can do to help increase it.
Topics we’ll cover:
- To M&A or not to M&A?
- How investors are approaching M&A in Telecom
- Balancing expansion ROI vs Acquisition
- As BEAD fills out the map there are less attractive areas for expansion so more funds flow to acquisitions
- Will funds be left over on non-deployment that could supplement fees (make some areas better penetration)
- Less underserved means more money will go into the 2nd or 3rd fiber provider areas
- How will you respond to an entrant? Are there ways to keep them out?
- How will your economics change if someone does enter?
- Consider your debt and capital under different profitability scenarios
- What money has been received
- What is the total future value of the company
- Preparing for M&A involves
- Balancing expansion ROI vs Acquisition
- How investors are approaching M&A in Telecom
- What will lending and interest rates look like?
- Network appraisals – Validate/Ensure a fair value assessment of new and existing infrastructure for property taxes – what does fair value mean?
Walk away, understanding potential scenarios of government and corporate investment landscapes and how that will affect the value of your network. Along with approaches to consider when preparing and monitoring the situation.
Speaker:
- Thomas Coffey, AVP of Valuation Systems
11:00 Am – 11:15 Am
Break & Office Hours
Come ask our experts your specific questions.
11:15 Am – 12:00 pm
Keynote: Government Program Fireside Chat
With Adam Cassady, NTIA’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy Administrator & David Redl, Founder & CEO of Saltpoint Strategies and former NTIA Administrator.
12:00 PM – 2:00 Pm
Office Hours
Dedicated time for you to come ask us your specific questions.
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Invitation Only
State Broadband Leader Forum
Join fellow state broadband leaders for an exclusive, in-depth session focused on navigating the evolving broadband landscape in a post-BEAD award environment. This collaborative session will feature a keynote from industry leaders, expert panel discussions, and open dialogue designed to tackle your most pressing challenges. Gain insights from CostQuest experts and partners, connect with peers, and share strategies shaping the future of broadband deployment and oversight.
For questions or to register, contact [email protected].
