[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign welcome you to another episode of Closing the Digital Divide.
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[email protected] welcome to Closing the Digital Divide, the podcast dedicated to creating meaningful conversations and sharing valuable insights from industry leaders, policymakers, equipment manufacturers and others on Closing the Digital Divide. I'm your host, Charles Thomas and together we'll explore policies, challenges, triumphs and innovation solutions that shaping the digital landscape.
Welcome to Closing the Digital Divide.
Well guys, we have a great show for you today. I'm very excited to welcome back one of the, one of my go to people. When I look to find out what's going on in the ecosystem in the broadband world, I'm glad to welcome back a good friend, Mr. Scott Woods, President, Public Private Partnershipready.net Scott, how are you today?
[00:01:27] Speaker B: I'm doing well, Mr. Thomas. I was about to get on you. You're about to call me a og. I was about to push back. I don't think I've reached that status yet, although I got the gray and I, and I definitely.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: And you know, I try to keep mine pretty close shape. It's funny because I find myself more and more being the oldest guy in the room these days. So I, I kind of wear that badge well.
[00:01:54] Speaker B: All right, well, I'll give it to you.
I don't want it. I've been in the game for a minute and you know how it is. But interesting times we live in. How about that?
[00:02:06] Speaker A: Absolutely. Well, tell our audience or remind our audience because we've, we've had you on before but remind our audience a little bit of your background and what the great work you guys are doing over at Ready.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: Well, thank you, Mr. Thomas. First, again, I know we, we've known each other for a while. It is a pleasure to be here and I really do appreciate the work that you're doing in this podcast to, to fill in the gaps and, and to provide information to the masses that otherwise they, they wouldn't. So first of all, thank you and it's a pleasure to be here with you today.
I'm, I'm a frequent guest, I guess, I guess I've been here now for a few times over the past couple of years.
You know, I won't have to go too in detail in my background But I'm a lawyer by trade. I spent my entire, pretty much professional life in telecommunications and broadband.
I helped run and set up some pretty interesting broadband grant programs at ntia.
Left there as the inaugural director of the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives and kicked off, you know, one of the first, you know, pilot grant programs post Covid that focused on our secondary schools, our colleges and universities, HBCUs, MSIs, and then came back to the private sector and been with READY now for three years. Can't believe it. It's been three years.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: As president of Public Private Partnerships and ready, we're a software technology company.
We are, our mission is, you know, better utility services for more families at lower cost. Like that's our mission.
We have the fortunate pleasure of working with over the course of this B process, you know, over 30 state broadband offices, you know, across the country in mapping and data collection and challenge process, now in B grant management and the automated reporting and compliance that's going to come and attach to all these awards. So we've been pretty integral.
Not just me, my team, our company, our engineers, you know, we've been pretty integral in this process both under the previous administration and now the changes that have occurred and that are governing the processes under this new administration. So it's, it's been a whirlwind, but I finally think we're, we're going to get, we're going to get there, if not the end of this year, definitely in full force in 2026.
[00:04:39] Speaker A: Well, you're the perfect person for this topic. And our topic of discussion today is the current status of BEAD in the United States.
How's that for a fun topic?
[00:04:53] Speaker B: How about that?
How many times have we done that? One?
[00:04:59] Speaker A: Yeah. How many times have we done it?
[00:05:01] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:05:01] Speaker A: Camera. Right.
So let's jump into the first question. How would you summarize the overall state level reaction to the NTIA new B guidance and have states expressed concerns, relief or are they still requesting clarification?
[00:05:22] Speaker B: I think we have to go back a little bit. It seems like a long time ago. It hasn't been that long.
June 6, when Department of Commerce issued and NTI issued sort of the restructure guidance and I think the first reaction by everyone in the industry was relative frustration and anger. I know I was pretty upset. Someone who has dedicated a vast majority of my professional life trying to bridge the digital divide for all communities, black, white, brown, north, south, east, west, rural, urban, tribal.
We were taken aback.
And so I think a lot of the directors were upset, maybe frustrated is probably a better word.
And because of the amount of work that they as an office have conducted over the last two and a half years, it seemed like that did not in any way shape or form influence the, the restructure notice and, and the decision on the direction of B. But I would say I know many of the directors and their teams, they work extremely hard.
I think after, you know what's natural, a couple of weeks of frustration, anger, maybe some well placed or maybe not well placed curse words.
You know, it's like I, I use the old adage for those of you who are car players, particularly those of you like me, went to an hbcu, like, you know, you play poker, you, you have an opportunity to fold your hand, but if you play spades, you got to play the hand you got no matter what, but you got to play the hand that you got to play the cars that have been dealt to you.
And so I think to a director, they've done that. I think they've gotten through sort of the initial reaction. Whether they agree with it or not, it's irrelevant.
But they have now all bogged down and are working to meet a very aggressive timeframe of having all of this completed and wrapped up and submitted to NTIA by September 4th.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: And speaking of that timeframe, how would you characterize the overall progress of the implementation across the states since NTIA released their, their new guidance, which, you know, I think we're a little halfway past that 90 day threshold now, if I'm correct.
[00:07:46] Speaker B: So absolutely, if you don't mind, I have a graphic I want, I want to share and I can walk folks through really quickly at a very high level just to show, you know, what happened, where we are right now. So be patient with me real quick. I'm on to share this really quickly with you and you can see that.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:08:02] Speaker B: And so as we referenced Mr. Thomas again, the clock started on June 6th.
It was classified as a 90 day process, but when you factored in the holiday and the actual business days and work involved, it was very less than the 90 day sprint. But, you know, we're walking through this, you know, step by step. So the, the clock started when the guidance released on June 6, states had to submit a correction letter to NTIA informing them that they would adhere to all of the guidelines that NTIA had set forth in this new guidance. They had to do unlicensed fixed wireless evaluation almost immediately.
And making sure, because that was an essential component of the restructure notice, was to open it up to what NTIA and Commerce were calling a more tech neutral basis allowing unlicensed fixed wireless and low earth orbit satellite providers to participate. So they had a really quick turnaround to do that to notify those unlicensed fixed wireless providers, gauge their participation and then move forward. And so where we are now is states are conducting what they call the benefit of the bargain, the bob rounds, which have to be completed by the end of the month. And so if you follow LinkedIn or, or Telecompetitor or Broadband Breakfast or any of the media coverage in this sector of bead, you know, a significant amount of states have announced their opening or have opened, you know, their bead, their bob rounds or what they call it, the benefit of the, of the bargain round.
And so that has to be completed by the end of the month. And so we should be receiving really good data on the participation, the providers and what the landscape looks like, you know, by the end of the month. We're fortunate that many of the early states that have utilized our software platform have been able to launch their, their benefit of the bargain round. So we hope to see some, some really good data here by the end of the next week or so and definitely by the end of the month.
And then, you know, the beginning of August they have to do some cleanup. They have to open it up for public comments and then everything submit that final proposal to NTIA summarizing encapsulating all of their plans and how they're going to govern in their B plans for NTI approval by September 4th. And so since the restructure guidance has come out, NTIA has come out with additional guidance on the contents and structure of the final proposal. And then just this week NTI sent out provided additional FAQs on the BE program, updating some policy notices and guidances for the state stakeholders and the general public. So again, a lot of information we're moving, our states are moving in a mad dash to get all of this done by, around or at September 4th deadline.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: Well, as you alluded to earlier, you guys are consulting with over 30 states.
Are there states that are better?
Let me see if I can put this. And let's not, let's not, let's not tell on anyone, but are there states that are meeting these beads milestones better than others?
And if the ones that are not, what are the factors that are driving those differences?
[00:11:39] Speaker B: That's a great question. I think, you know, we'll have time to look back on that once this, this process is over.
I do know and again, we're not currently working with all 30 states we've, we've worked with in some shape or form, you know, 30 state broadband office. So want to make sure I'm clear on that. But we're working with a lot of them.
Yeah. So we, you know, look, all offices are different.
Some have been created by statute, some are governed and run by directors who've been appointed by the governor. Some are state employees. Right.
There are different capacity issues for each one. Some offices are new, some offices have been around for a while and have governed grant programs, state and federal, you know, for several years. So. But all of them, again, I go back to what I know bedrock for certain.
All of them over the last two and a half years have, have done the work required to really understand where broadband is and is not in their respective states. And that's reaching out to stakeholders, reaching out to local communities, you know, doing the data collection, you know, participating in the challenge process.
But as you know, I think you raise an interesting point in this collapsed time frame, you know, it does hit differently.
Those offices that I know that are sophisticated who are using us as a software defined approach, you know, probably have a little bit more flexibility than those offices who are not, or maybe using traditional manual approaches. But again, it doesn't discount the work, the dedication, the effort.
You know, we just believe, and I just believe that, you know, a software defined approach, you know, allows states to move real quickly and efficiently as well as documenting their progress. But all of the offices are working extremely hard to ensure they can meet the guidelines and the requirements of commerce and ntia.
[00:13:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I'll just applaud all the state broadband offices. They worked for two years to get this done and then they were put into a very condensed 90 day process enable for them to be able to move forward.
Speaking of that, so from your perspective, what do you see as the top two or three challenges for these states to meet the new NTIA guidance and then the impact on that?
How are the states going to get through this process?
[00:14:23] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a great, another great question. We'll be able to gauge the impact, I think, from the data, you know, particularly those states that were close to launching or had finished their initial application rounds. We'll be able to gauge data and have some real good differences between the prior approach to this approach moving forward.
But I will say the biggest barrier right now is keeping momentum going and keeping the provider community engaged. Because we've lost a lot of time and a lot of investment, both private capital and resources, as well as impact on supply chain and workforce development.
And so I think this is the administration's way of trying to jumpstart that. But the delay did cause some significant, I think, barriers in terms of the credibility of the offices.
And so they're working really hard not only to adhere to all of the processes and requirements of this restructure guidance, but they've got to keep the momentum going. They got to keep their providers engaged and their communities. More importantly, the impacted communities are equally as important. The impacted communities engage to ensure that our unserved and underserved communities are going to get broadband in your lifetime. In my life.
That's the goal.
And I think they have right concerns, right, because many of the states, particularly those that had already launched an application process, were already, had already made awards or preliminary awards. And, you know, the provider community was really excited, particularly the smaller providers that participated and had won. And so it's, as you know, that part of this is a PR effort, right? You gotta keep excitement going and trust and confidence in the office and credibility in the office, you know, that, that, that this program is, is not going to be like rdoff or other programs that have, you know, significant, significant issues or significant failures. So, but I think we'll get there. I think as more data comes out here over the next four to six weeks, you know, hopefully the market, the private market, the capital markets will also understand and see the momentum and the providers will be geared back up. And again, it all comes back down to the communities that will be impacted by these grant programs, these awards, and ultimately the builds. We've got to make sure that we get them what they need. And that's been part of my life's work. It's been the mission of the company that I'm so proud to be a part of is to ensure that all of our communities get connectivity. Because, you know, if they don't, the way technology is changing and now AI, it won't even be a divide anymore. It'll be something that we just can't.
It'll be, it'll be, it'll just be not even a chasm, Mr. Thomas. It's going to be, you know, something that will be unrecoverable for certain communities if we don't get this right.
[00:17:37] Speaker A: And, and that's, that's, that's a shame. You know, having spent my entire career in rural areas, the plight of quality of life for rural folks without connectivity is.
It can be crushing at times, you know, So I applaud all the work that you guys are doing. Let's Talk a little bit about that guidance now because there was a big shift in the guidance that went out given the NTI shift more towards technology neutral approach.
How are the states adjusting to that?
And so we're adding in satellite, we're adding in fixed wireless now all the other technology. How are they adjusting to that and what challenges do they have in trying to incorporate this new guidance into their bill?
[00:18:32] Speaker B: So here's my issue both personally and professionally.
If anyone read the of all the broadband offices, they were already tech neutral.
They were already considering fixed wireless and the role of LEOs.
But again the goal is to build out middle mile and last mile infrastructure in a way that makes the country competitive in our most needy communities. So the issue that I have again personally and professionally is it didn't seem as though those that went about the restructure guidance actually read the proposals and the work that the states had already conducted because they would have seen the approaches laid out were very cognizant of being tech neutral. You know, states know what's best for their constituents and I thought they were very thoughtful in approaching that as well as the data collection and the data methodologies. Now the maps are not perfect, but they're a lot better than they were as a result of the challenge process. And there's still going to be gaps but again, I think, you know, there are some still challenges. Right. The restructure guidance put a pause on non deployment. It eliminated and it's entirely affordability, both low class and middle class affordability plans and programs. So again, not getting off into debate of whether it's rate regulation or not.
You and I both know it makes no sense to build something where folks can't afford the rates.
And then so you know, hopefully, you know, we're building upon the principles of capitalism and innovation and have these networks compete on the marketplace of ideas and price, hopefully. But it would have been good to, to ensure that there was a price point to ensure that, you know, the least of us had an opportunity to afford, you know, quality connectivity and broadband services. So a lot remains to be seen what, what happens with again the data. And I think again the fundamental part of BEID is data driven.
So we can't, you know, despite the restructure notice, despite again the change in administration and policy directions would hap, which happens in D.C. quite frequently.
The, the bipartisan bed law is data centric and data based. And so you know, we'll get some of that data here in a few weeks and be able to and you'll start seeing in the public comments and the notices that the states send out, they'll be able to see at a granular basis, you know, the data that they're working with and moving forward with in the programs.
[00:21:19] Speaker A: Oh, and you touched on this a little bit here, and this is, this has a, been a big issue in rural communities. Do you believe that the new guidance adequately addresses middle mile and last mile challenges that the states have been grappling with?
[00:21:38] Speaker B: I don't.
I think it makes it a little more ambiguous.
Again, you know, not.
We all know that, you know, we need robust last mile and middle mile connections. We know that a comprehensive solution encompasses all technology, but it's driven by fiber. Right. Our towers are connected by fiber. Right. Our communication facilities need fiber, but also it's not economical in every case.
And so there is a comprehensive approach that encompasses fixed wireless and wireless and LEOs.
In my time at NTIA, I championed all of those technologies to solve the digital dividend.
But again, I think we know what's bedrock certain that in rural communities and tribal communities and certain urban areas, there's no infrastructure, there's no fiber to build wireless.
Right. And if you don't have that in the infrastructure, you can't build even the satellite terminals, their ground stations are connected by fiber.
So again, I thought it reflected a very fundamental misunderstanding of how our broadband telecommunications landscape works and more importantly, what's needed for us to be competitive as we move forward in the future.
But we are where we are. I think each director and their teams understand that.
But at the same time, I think there is a window under this priority broadband definition that's in the revised restructure guidance where states can evaluate what's best for their communities. And again, they take into consideration future building probability or potential capacity, both on residential and business, and then the needs of future technology, AI, edge computing things, smart city, smart community, smart ag, taking those into consideration as they make these final determinations. So I think it's there. I think you have to do a little bit more searching and wrangling. Right.
I would have liked it to be more of a bedrock principle. You know, this is what we need for American, you know, being competitive globally. We've got to improve both our miss, our last mile and middle mile infrastructure capacity.
And we're not even talking about the data centers and the edge infrastructure and the AI. We haven't gotten to that yet.
But that's going to be for future.
[00:24:17] Speaker A: Podcasts, by the way.
[00:24:18] Speaker B: Absolutely, we'll talk about that. That's. That's what's coming next and how we protect that right. Resilience in our infrastructure is also going to be very important. But, but for now, states are working extremely hard. We'll have some data to review.
I, I want to reiterate to everyone the public comment period, you know, for your state broadband office is important.
They have to publish it. Please read it and comment.
There's no stone that will be, you know, unturned and there's no hiding the ball. Each state will play out, you know, what the data shows and what their approach is to governing and launching their B program. And so then it's incumbent upon NTIA to approve them. And then again, I expect, you know, hopefully by fourth quarter, some money start to hit the street. But definitely first quarter of 2026, you know, B should be in, in full swing.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: Well, we're, we're quickly, quickly running out of time and I've gotten through maybe a third of the questions I wanted to ask you, so we may have to do a follow up to this, but one of the things that I had was on the podcast last week with Gary Bolton and I asked him this question. I might phrase it to you a little bit differently here, but in your opinion, what impact is the rush to compliance going to have on our workforce and conversely, the quality of broadband construction across the country?
[00:25:47] Speaker B: That is a fantastic question. We need to ask that to some folks who came up with this approach because workforce development is going to be key, I think. It's unknown.
I am somewhat dismayed that it was taken out and they lessen the emphasis on workforce development. But there are organizations like FBA and WIA that, you know, are keen on this issue. They're working in states and with providers to ensure, you know, that they have a workforce that can accommodate these network bills. Whether it's fiber, whether it's wireless, whatever it is. We are going to need a skilled workforce to ensure that, that all of these networks can be built and they're all gonna be going on at the same time. So from California to Texas to Mississippi to Virginia, you know, they're all gonna be competing for the same, not just skills, but services and supplies and equipment and fiber. And so, yeah, we definitely need a program and an emphasis on workforce development, a skilled workforce development across all of the industries, whether it's fiber, wireless, you know, fiber splicers, you know, technicians, RF integrations. Like, we, we need all of that to ensure, again, that, you know, we're not pricing states out of, of anti or enticing anti competitive behavior. Right. Because what we know what will happen if there's a scarcity of workforce is they're going to go where the money is, right. Who's paying the most and who's paying the fastest. And so now you're still creating a have and have nots between states that maybe have more of a diligent process versus those that do not. And it favors those, quite frankly, those providers that can absorb that capital hit versus the smaller providers that may be more reliant on the grant program and reimbursement to ensure that they can pay their workforce. So there's a lot here, there's a lot that we need to discuss, but I am concerned about the impact on workforce development as we continue to move forward in this program.
[00:28:06] Speaker A: And that could have a serious impact on the schedule as well, would it not?
[00:28:11] Speaker B: Yeah, the schedule, the bill, you know, it's all about timing, timing, timing. Right. The western states and northern states are going to be impacted by weather.
You know, the southern states, not so much. So you'll have more, hopefully competition and availability there. But you know, as we progress into 2026, particularly in the spring and the summer, you, you should see a, you know, full blown competition for, for workforce development and skilled labor to ensure these projects are, are moving forward. So we'll see.
[00:28:43] Speaker A: Yeah, so I, I got one, almost try to squeeze in one, maybe two more questions here. I have some friends of mine that are over in Ireland and they, they're about 85, 90% done with their statewide or their countrywide build.
One of the things that became very apparent to the government of Ireland was that as they were pushing to get it done in a short time frame was they implemented independent certifiers to help the quality of the bill. In your opinion, do you foresee a role for independent certifiers hearing in the US for B, to verify that the standards are being met and so that we're not kind of having to redo things and not that anyone would intentionally do a bad job. Right. But we're in a very condensed timeframe now and people are pushing, as we just discussed, we're going to have, we know we're going to have some workforce issues.
So in your opinion, do you see a role for that here in the unit in the U.S.
i do.
[00:29:53] Speaker B: And we're on the cusp of helping states figure that out with one of our products called Automated Reporting and compliance, or ARC.
Again, Mr. Thomas, you know this about me. I've run several grant programs out of ntia, you know, from million dollars to billions of dollars.
The, the laws governing reporting and compliance apply no matter who's in power D or R. You take federal money, it comes with a litany of obligations that don't just last through the bill, they last beyond the bill for the useful life of that asset. And so some of these, we're talking 5, 7, 10, 25 years in some cases where there will be ongoing reporting and compliance obligations both on the grants management, financial management and the project management. So yes, to answer the question, yes, we will need a litany of independent certifiers to verify it.
We've been working with the idea of having, and working with, you know, field technicians and consultants who can verify the work, take pictures, but then do everything in terms of having it all in one place from a software solution standpoint. So you're seeing the builds as they complete it, but you're also seeing in the same geospatial platform the status of the reporting and compliance, the field checks, the field authorization, the speed tests. Right. The ping all the way through the DMARC or through the router or to the cpe. Right. We need to start thinking about that because that is going to tell us eventually whether these programs are successful or not. So it's not just the construction of the build, it's that service delivery to that home, that business, you know, that anchor institution that has to be verified. And then every state's different. As you know, the bill requirements and, and all of the local rules and regulations have to be followed. It's unclear whether NEPA and some of the federal environmental requirements are going to, are going to stay, but the state ones still do.
We know that this NTIA has rolled back some of the environmental requirements, but they'll still be needed on the local level. Right? So yes, independent certifiers, you know, independent verifiers, field technicians being able to, you know, verify all of the components of the network build, doing the speed test checks periodically as well as during the build period, and then post build is going to be required as well. So I encourage folks that this reporting and compliance is an essential component to ensure that these aren't wasted and stranded networks and assets that we built with the B fund. So very important, we're not talking about it because again, rightly so, directors are solely focused on getting their programs up and running. But again, don't let the smooth taste fool you.
You take federal money, whether a grantee or a sub grantee, at some point, you know, the government is going to come knocking with some type of report that's due. And again, you don't want to be on the bad side of, of, of not adhering to those requirements. And they're not just on a, during the bill process. They are ongoing, sometimes 10, 20, you know, 30 years down the road. I'm pretty sure there's some B top projects that are still reporting and it's been, you know, 20 years since, since the end of that project.
[00:33:32] Speaker A: Before we wrap up today's episode, let's talk a little bit about our new sponsor.
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So let me, let me find a question here. Let me paint a scenario for you, Mr. Woods. Mr. Scott Wood has the stage in all 54 states and areas are, are here in the audience.
What advice would you have for all of the state broadband offices and private partners as we move to this next phase of B deployment?
[00:34:29] Speaker B: Trust the work that you've done.
It's real simple. Again, all 56 state broadband and territory offices have done a hell of a lot of work. A lot of it has been wrapped up in, been politicized, but it's non political. Like they literally knocked on doors, they've literally met with communities, they've met with providers, they've gazed all type of data, economic as well as speed test data to determine where broadband is. And it's not perfect, but they've done a lot of work. So trust the work that you've done.
Preserve as much of the work as you can, even in this restructure process that you can do. Please do that and just keep moving forward because the need is there now. Again, I participated in several, I've shared this with you before. I've had beer, lemonade or water in literally every single state and territory in this country.
And the needs on broadband exist, they're pervasive, they're often number two or three on the list.
And we will be doing these communities, our communities, a huge disservice if we don't ensure that as a result of this investment in connectivity that we're not connecting them in the manner in which that makes our communities competitive and our country competitive as a whole.
So I would tell them, look, keep doing what you're doing, then I'll put a plug for ready of course, to work with us. I gotta get that in there.
[00:36:06] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:36:08] Speaker B: But, but more importantly than that is trust the work that they've done, trust the providers in their state that they've been participating in all of these processes and continue to make the best decisions that will impact our communities for generations to come.
[00:36:24] Speaker A: Scott, as always, my friend, you are a wealth of information and knowledge. I so appreciate you taking time out of your busy day. I know it things haven't slowed down over at Ready. As a matter of fact, you guys probably are in overdrive over there.
Tell folks where they can learn more about the great work you're doing, software that you guys have out that's available, everything around Ready you guys are doing.
[00:36:55] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. You can find us at ready.net right? We have the really simple www.www.ready.net is our website. You can see a lot of the work that we've done in states, California, Texas, Guam, Virginia, mapping. We don't brand it as Ready branded for the states for a reason. It's their work, it's their data.
We just have the pleasure of being able to power a lot of these processes, you know, as they, as they move forward. But you can go to our website, you can request it demo. You know, we have a number of different modules and products that are designed to ensure state broadband offices can navigate through these processes and then ultimately for the providers, right, to become more efficient, you know, and effective in what they do and how they do it.
And then I'm looking forward to what comes next again, which is got to talk about the resiliency of our infrastructure across broadband and energy and technology and what that looks like, particularly as man made disasters and natural disasters are frequent, more frequent. We've got to look at that and have serious discussions with players across power and energy and technology and broadband on how we protect our infrastructure and grow it.
So I'm looking forward to being a part of that. But come check us out at READY again. But more importantly, please participate in this processes that your state broadband offices are going to do, particularly with this public comment period that's coming up in the middle of August, the beginning of the middle of August. You'll download it, comment on it, read it, participate and then you know, ultimately be on standby for when these, these programs start. And let's be vocal because again, it's not perfect. I want to make sure that this program's not perfect. You know, there are going to be a lot of communities unfortunately that are going to be left behind and there's going to be a need. There's going to be a need, whether it's private market, whether it's you know, state money, you know, there's going to be a need after this to ensure that none of our communities are left behind. And so I look forward to being a part of it, Mr. Thomas. I look forward to being a part of it with you and the work that you're doing.
And if anyone needs to contact me, they can find
[email protected] but again, check out our website, check out the great things that we're doing, interesting things that we're doing with technology, and we look forward to being a part of the solution.
[00:39:30] Speaker A: And just to close, I will echo that.
You guys are doing, doing some fantastic work. I've seen some of the work that you guys have done specifically here in Virginia.
One of the reasons why Virginia is at the, in, in the lead and getting, getting their broadband projects done and completed and through this new process. So again, thank you.
Number one, thank you for being on the show today. Number two, thank you for all the great work that you guys are doing and we, we look forward to catching up and doing this real soon.
[00:40:03] Speaker B: Thank you, sir. I will mention, can I mention one thing because you mentioned Virginia. They've got a great team in Virginia. We're just there to help where we can. But Dr. Holmes and Chandler and that team there, they're one of the few officers that have staff and personnel and have actually governed state and federal grant programs for several years. So again, we work with Virginia. We had the opportunity. We work with Guam, I mean, we're Hawaii. You know, we work with DC as well as some big ones like Texas and California, Louisiana. So we're fortunate, you know, that we get an opportunity to work with some of the best and the brightest across the country.
That's my last little plug.
[00:40:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:47] Speaker A: Number one, number one, you are so right about Dr. Holmes and Chandler and that group down there. They do a bang up job. But number two, I don't remember getting an invite when you went to Guam or Hawaii or any of those.
[00:41:04] Speaker B: You didn't get the invite?
[00:41:05] Speaker A: Oh my God. No, man. Yeah, I'm gonna fix that.
I don't know if the Internet was down or something might be down.
[00:41:14] Speaker B: They got, they got big connectivity issues.
You wouldn't believe some of the places that have connectivity issues.
[00:41:24] Speaker A: Scott, I appreciate it, man. Thank you very much.
[00:41:26] Speaker B: Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.
