Experts to address network longevity risks in Houston next week – Broadband Communities

Summit ’26 Experts will focus on risk management and network longevity within the BEAD program next week at Broadband Communities Summit 2026. Edited b y Brad Randall, Broadband Communities Industry leaders and policymakers will gather soon at Broadband Communities Summit (August 25-27) to address critical gaps in federal broadband oversight. One such panel, titled “Built to Last or Built to Pass? Bridging the Oversight Gap in BEAD,” will focus on risk management and network longevity within the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Scheduled for 10:50 a.m. on August 27 at the George R. Brown Convention Center, the panel will ask speakers to compare the USDA’s traditional field inspection models with NTIA compliance standards, define what constitutes a “complete and operable” network under BEAD guidelines, and evaluate whether current performance testing sample sizes accurately reflect real-world network health. Get tickets for Broadband Communities Summit 2026 Panelists will dive into the practical friction between paper compliance and real-world durability, pinpointing where buildouts remain vulnerable. Panelists will also push beyond basic bookkeeping to examine how state broadband offices can bolster on-site engineering audits. Featured speakers include Laurel Leverrier, assistant administrator at the USDA; Tim Arbeiter, director of broadband consulting at Finley Engineering
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