Inside Connected America: Why broadband growth depends on collaboration

On this episode of Connected Nation, we are live at the Connected America Conference in Dallas. We speak with Rob Chambers, Managing Director of Total Telecom about what’s next for Connected America and why face-to-face collaboration is critical to expanding broadband access nationwide.

Recommended links: 

Connected America Conference

Total Telecom

Rob Chambers LinkedIn

Transcript

Jessica Denson, Connected Nation (00:05):
This is Connect to Nation, an award-winning podcast focused on all things broadband. From closing the digital divide to improving your internet speeds, we talk technology topics that impact all of us, our families, and our neighborhoods. On this episode of Connect Nation, I talk with Rob Chambers, the managing director of Total Telecom, about what's ahead for Connected America and why it matters now more than ever to meet in person as we plan to expand broadband access across the US. I'm Jessica Denson, and this is Connected Nation. I am at day one of Connected America, taking place in Dallas, Texas, and I am with Rob Chambers, who is the managing director of ... Is it Total Telecom or is it 

Rob Chambers, Total Telecom (00:49):
It's Total Telecom. It's Total Telecom. Terrapin's our parent company. 

Jessica Denson, Connected Nation (00:53):
Yeah. So talk about what Terrapin does and what Total Telecom does under that umbrella. 

Rob Chambers, Total Telecom (00:58):
Yeah, sure. Thank ... Well, thanks for the invitation, Jessica. Anyway. Um, let's give you a sort of top down, uh, view on it. Um, Terrapin is a global events business. Uh, it's an Australian owned company. Um, been going for about 35 years. Mm-hmm. And is now in the top 10 of privately owned, uh, events companies in the world. Wow. So it's a reasonable size company. Um, they bought the Total Telecom brand, um, ooh, 20, 22 years ago, something like that. Uh-huh. Um, from a company called EMAP, who's a, a very large, or was a very large UK publishing house. Mm-hmm. And what they basically bought was a print publisher. Uh-huh. 

Jessica Denson, Connected Nation (01:41):
Oh, wow. 

Rob Chambers, Total Telecom (01:42):
Yeah. <laugh> We go right back to that. <laugh> Um, and I've been on the ride with them ever since then. Um, we've basically transitioned it from being a print publisher into being an online only publisher. And now I think you'd probably say we're really, uh, an events business that also publishes. Uh-huh. Um, but we're still very proud of our, uh, publishing heritage. Um, and we keep, we keep doing it. You know, we bought three years ago, broadband communities, um, which again has a nice publishing business tied into an events business. Mm-hmm. And then actually, uh, continuing the acquisition trail, um, about three weeks ago, um, we purchased, uh, FMS, which is the future of memory and storage, um, which is a California based, uh- Uh-huh. ... event and the, uh, the largest memory and storage event in the world. 

Jessica Denson (02:28):
It's, it's funny, all these interesting little niche events that happen that really bring thousands and thousands of people, right? What is the most interesting one in your opinion <laugh> that people would never expect? 

Rob Chambers (02:39):
Um, in our portfolio, probably the most, uh, interesting and niche one, uh, is, uh, submarine networks- 

Jessica Denson (02:46):
Oh, wow. 

Rob Chambers (02:47):
... event. 

Jessica Denson (02:47):
Yeah. 

Rob Chambers (02:48):
Um, it's, um, similar size to this. It's, um, 1,200 people, um, running in London. Um, it's been run in London for about probably 10 years now, and it's literally for the community of people that build those cables that connect the world up. Mm-hmm. Uh- 

Jessica Denson (03:06):
That has to be fascinating. 

Rob Chambers (03:08):
It, it's fascinating, and it's also very expensive. Mm-hmm. You know, most of it's funded by the likes of Meta, um, uh, Google, Microsoft, those kind of people, because no one else can afford to build them. Mm-hmm. But it's such a big issue at the moment, and especially when we start talking about resilience and security, and is someone gonna cut that cable, we'll probably more likely, uh, drag it with an anchor. 

Jessica Denson (03:28):
Yeah. How do you even protect something that's buried under the ocean or under the water like that? It's crazy that, uh- 

Rob Chambers (03:35):
If you have the answer to that, Jessica, you probably please a lot of people. <laugh> <laugh> You know, it's, it's, it's a big issue and, you know, this year we've, uh, put a, uh, a security summit alongside it. Uh, because you do have the issues of, you know, what can you do under the water? Can you armor them, uh, can you get the Navy involved to actually patrol and protect them? Uh, but yeah, say an awful lot of it is accidental damage and actually the real threat to it actually isn't physical damage, it's, it's cyber damage. 

Jessica Denson (04:02):
C- it's cyber damage, is that what you said? Yeah. Yeah, hacking. What do you mean by that? Like hacking. Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah. Just basic hacking. Yeah. So, uh, do you do a lot of technology type events then, I take it? 

Rob Chambers (04:11):
We do, um, about 10 events a year. Um, and now with the purchase of FMS, they run literally all the way from subsea to, to, um, uh, storage for, for AI really. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, our biggest single event is Connected Britain, um, which is the same model as this connected America here, but is the, uh, the largest connectivity event in the United Kingdom. It's, uh, near enough 10,000 people, um, being over 10 years. 

Jessica Denson (04:39):
And, uh, since we are at Connected America, before we move into what, what some of the topics are today, how do you think it, how do you think we compare to how Britain's doing and Europe is doing in the same space? Just in your opinion, I know it's a big question <laugh>. 

Rob Chambers (04:54):
It's, it's, it's, it's a big question. Um, it's, it's interesting because I think that you could say that, um, the USA is on, on a journey. Um, uh, it's in some ways behind on the journey where the United Kingdom is now. Mm-hmm. Um, the, the foundation behind the launch of, of Connected Britain was really the growth of what we call the alt nets in the UK, and they're basically the small challenger ISPs- mm-hmm. ... um, which we're building out fiber. Now, that's a similar kind of place to where you are at the moment. Uh, uh, you've also got the same challenges around consolidation of the big, the, the big names, uh, in the industry, uh, and the, the issue that the, the smaller companies are facing of should they build these networks because can they, uh, get them adopted? Can they get people actually using them?

(05:49)
Mm-hmm. So these are all the same kind of things that we're, we're seeing in, in, in Britain. Um, now, one thing that's very different is you obviously had a huge amount of, well, at least theoretical, because not much of it's been necessarily, uh, given out at the moment, but funding, you know, in terms of these- The bead funding. Yeah. And, and that never happened in the UK. Uh, and in the UK, what that really meant was there was far more, um, focus on the companies that raised their own funding, um, uh, and built their networks on that basis. And I suspect we're going to see a lot more of that happening here as well, because I'm sure the bead funding won't be sufficient. And what 

Jessica Denson (06:26):
About the rural question of connectivity? Is it very similar there or because, you know, America, in comparison, the United States to Britain is, is huge, especially larger swaths of rural areas, but a lot of parts of Europe are very rural as well. So is it a similar problem or a different nu- is there a little more nuanced? 

Rob Chambers (06:47):
It's certainly nuanced. Yeah. You know, yeah, uh, um, you know, if you, if you think that the United Kingdom would fit probably a couple of times over into Texas alone, so- <laugh> It's, it's definitely different. Uh-huh. Um, but you're right. We do have, um, we have very rural communities and the issues are still the same or similar, you know, in the sense of, especially when we're talking about laying fiber, is it justified to buy, to, uh, um, build a fiber network to someone who lives in a small community halfway up a hillside? Well, maybe, maybe not. Yeah. Um, we do have in the UK, we do have open reach or BT, um, there's a lot of people would think about them and they have a mandate that they are supposed to connect everybody. Uh, in reality, I think they're aiming to connect 99% of people. Uh, and that does mean, um, predominantly building out fiber, um, and the fiber coverage is good in the UK now.

(07:46)
Um, but it is nuanced because I think in the United States there's going to be a lot more communities where it's never justified to build a fiber network. Mm-hmm. And I know there's some guys on the stage just now that were G Fiber and AT&T and Comcast and, uh, uh, I think it was a G fiber guy who was just saying, "Look, there's lots of communities where we just never can build fiber out. So it's not going to work." 

Jessica Denson (08:08):
So talk about what Connected America is. Uh, uh, what are some of the big topics that you're expecting for the week, the two days that we're here? I know it officially, there were some things last night, right, as well, or did it 

Rob Chambers (08:20):
Officially 

Jessica Denson (08:20):
Begin this morning? 

Rob Chambers (08:21):
<laugh> No, officially it came, officially it began this morning. Uh-huh <affirmative> Um, you know, the whole idea really behind, uh, Connected America is we bring together the, the telco, the ISP communities, um, with the, the government, um, and the vendor communities and then the, the nonprofits, not for profits, uh, and all the different parties that make up the connectivity ecosystem. Mm-hmm. Um, I think the thing that is quite unique about us and puts us in a good position actually is that we've always been agnostic about the technology. You know, on a personal level, I always take the view that, uh, a member of the public shouldn't have to care whether their broadband is fiber, copper, coax, wireless- Right. Who cares? Totally get it, yeah. As long as it's connected and does what they want it to do. Uh-huh <affirmative>. Yeah. Um, and I think we're pretty unique in the sense that we've always promoted that, um, uh, and so we're still doing that.

(09:17)
Um, so I think that's, that's pretty much what we're, we're about. Mm-hmm. Um, now in terms of the, the subjects here, um, we're talking about everything from the build out of the networks through to the, uh, uh, ad- adoption of the networks, um, closing the digital divide- mm-hmm. ... uh, the new technologies that are using it, everything from, you know, driverless cars through to AI and data centers. Mm-hmm. We, we cover the whole gambit. 

Jessica Denson (09:46):
Do you, because you come to these, do you feel like you, at least I do anyway, when I come to these, I feel like I've, I've learned a lot, you kind of soak up some of that technology, I don't have a technology background, but you can help become, but learn, right? <laugh> 

Rob Chambers (10:01):
You, you can't help but learn. Yeah. Um, I've, I've been in the, the industry now for probably 25 years, and I would say I aim to understand enough to understand roughly where the bits go. Mm-hmm. Um, I, I certainly don't understand how the things work. <laugh> I'm not gonna be building a network in my spare time. <laugh> Not 

Jessica Denson (10:20):
Today anyway. Not today. Not today anyway. So, you know, there's so much movement and you, you even mentioned that you, that Terrapin used to be, have a publishing house and do publishing and things moved online. Uh, there's so much that happens socially online and stuff. How important is it to have these in- person events? 

Rob Chambers (10:40):
Oh, wow. I look, I, I think the importance of in- person events is just growing actually. Um, you know, if you, your humans need to meet anyway, you know, there's a human connection and you only get that out of the physical event. Um, yes, theoretically, you can hold your meetings online, you can hold them over Zoom or Teams or whatever. Uh, you can watch a webinar instead of coming to a presentation. Um, but the benefit of serendipity of just walking around here, bumping into someone who you know or someone you don't know, seeing a new technology, listening to something by chance, that only happens at a, at a live event. Mm-hmm. Uh, and also just the vibe of the market is, uh, uh, is interesting, you know, um, uh, I, I always love it when I come to events in North America in the sense there's a whole feeling that people are more committed to doing business and, uh, you walk around here, even first thing before the, the show floor had officially opened and you know, it was quiet, but there were people saying, "Look, I need to get back to you.

(11:42)
We need to, to finish this deal." Uh, and just that meeting, that bit of networking, um, hopefully this evening at the, the bar crawl- Yeah. ... which is going to be a first for us. Um, it, it, it gives someone some, a different way to connect and hopefully gives them a bit of fun as well. 

Jessica Denson (11:56):
Uh-huh <affirmative>. Yeah, people were talking about that last night. They're like, "Are you coming, Jess?" I was like, "Oh, what's this? The bar cross and we're, we're, we've got a whole group from Connect to Nation. They're gonna be, we're gonna network is what we're doing there." Yes. <laugh> Um, are, is there, is there a topic that you're super excited about or a panel that you're like, "Oh, I'm, you sh- people should really not miss that one for this week, for these two days?" 

Rob Chambers (12:18):
Look, the one, the one actually that, uh, lights my fire actually is the, um, the sessions that we have on multifamily and communities. Mm-hmm. Um, I just think the whole issue around, um, uh, connecting communities, what it does for people's lives is so interesting. And it's not a technology subject as such, but it's enabled, enabled by, uh, technology. So I really like that, uh, because it fits here, but it also crosses over with, um, what we do with broadband communities as well. Mm-hmm. So I'll, I'll certainly be sitting in on those sessions. 

Jessica Denson (12:52):
And we're sitting in the vendor hall and one of the main stages is in here. It's, it's a really cool setup. Um, I know we're doing audio only, but it's, it's, it's a great way to get interaction with the vendors. Are there any vendors that you're super excited about that I should definitely go check out? <laugh> 

Rob Chambers (13:08):
All of them, they'd love you for it. <laugh> Look, we've got some big names here. Um, people like Cisco and Mtell have got some nice, um, nice stands and they've got some interesting things to show. But I think the ones that, um, I'm, I haven't been to see them myself yet, but I'm certainly going to in a minute. Um, the real first route here is we have an Indian pavilion. Oh. Um, the, uh, uh, the Indian, I can't remember what stands for, TEPC, the Trade and Export Council, I think it is of India, who have bought, I think it's 16 companies, uh- Oh, wow. ... who want to do business with, uh, um, US ISPs, uh, here. And that's a first. So that's really interesting. Well, 

Jessica Denson (13:44):
I'll definitely have to stop in there. Yeah. 

Rob Chambers (13:45):
Yeah. 

Jessica Denson (13:46):
Yeah. Anything else? 

Rob Chambers (13:47):
Um, what else is really interesting here? Uh, I always think some of the companies, I'm looking around seeing who I can see. <laugh> I can see 3GIS, for example, and I always think the things they're doing on mapping are really interesting, you know, the, the whole issue of where you build your network- Oh. ... and are you gonna cut in someone else's, uh, not necessarily so much the cables, but you're gonna cut in someone's water main or, uh, uh, something like that. I always think that's interesting. Um, what else we've got here? There's a couple of company names I don't recognize as well. 

Jessica Denson (14:15):
Well, I, I usually make a tour around the vendor hall just for our sake of our audience and interview a few, so I'll do that later. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so one thing I do on this podcast for every guest is talk a little bit about them and, um, we kind of backed into it this time, but tell our audience and tell me a little bit about you. Like what brought you to Terrapin before that? What was your, were you into publishing first or, or what was it that got you to the point you are now? 

Rob Chambers (14:41):
Yeah, look, I've, uh, I've worked in the media industry, I suppose you'd say really, um, since ... When did I first join into it? Um, <laugh> uh, in the early 90s was probably the first, uh, job I had in the media industry. Uh-huh <affirmative> Um, I originally joined a, uh, a small UK traditional print business to business publisher, uh, who did all kinds of things from garden center magazines to sports magazines and all kinds of things like that. But their, their flagship were a, uh, uh, a bunch of, uh, financial titles and I ended up running their financial titles, um, for a few years in London, which was great. Uh, it was very much the old school of media in those days, uh, lots of lunching and networking. <laugh> Uh, then I joined, um, into fundamentally this industry. I joined, um, uh, EMAP's, uh, computing division, um, and they were running things, actually some people here might even recognize the brand still.

(15:41)
Uh, the, the flagship was a, uh, a title called Communications Week International. Uh-huh <affirmative> Which actually was the international version of, uh, Communications Week, which was a big American title anyway. Yeah. Uh-huh <affirmative>. Um, and so I ran that for a few years, um, for the added value side of business, which was contract publishing for people, market research. Mm-hmm. We built some early websites for people as well before people were building their own. 

Jessica Denson (16:04):
Oh, cool. 

Rob Chambers (16:04):
Uh, so that was cool. Um- 

Jessica Denson (16:06):
So were you the, the, the managing editor or the- 

Rob Chambers (16:09):
No, I'm a commercial person. I'm a commercial person income project management type of person. Uh-huh <affirmative>. Um, uh, and then I went off and, uh, ran a dot com, uh, in the real dotcom boom- Oh wow. ... free map, um, something called production.com, which was the first, uh, um, website for the, for the TV production industry. 

Jessica Denson (16:27):
Industry, interesting. <laugh> So were you, when you did that, was that international or was that in the US or ... 

Rob Chambers (16:33):
No, they were predominantly UK titles. 

Jessica Denson (16:34):
Okay. 

Rob Chambers (16:35):
Um- 

Jessica Denson (16:36):
That where you grew up was London? 

Rob Chambers (16:38):
Well, yeah, I'm a, I'm a Londoner at Harti and I come from North London, so- You have an 

Jessica Denson (16:41):
Accent. Yeah. I 

Rob Chambers (16:42):
Noticed. Shortly not. <laugh> 

Jessica Denson (16:46):
I don't. <laugh> 

Rob Chambers (16:49):
Yeah, no, London's still the greatest city in the world, but- I 

Jessica Denson (16:51):
Love London. It's a wonderful city. Yeah, it is.

Rob Chambers (16:54):
Uh-huh. Uh, so yeah, no, I'm, I'm in London and over the years I've done more and more international work. You know, I've run events now in Asia, in North America, across Europe. Uh, I love it. Gives you a chance to travel, go and see different things, um, come to my, some of my favorite cities. You know, I was, I was out here before this event, just like I spent some time in Dallas. I love Dallas. 

Jessica Denson (17:14):
Did you take cowboy hat? 

Rob Chambers (17:16):
I don't wear a cowboy hat. <laugh> Hats done city. 

Jessica Denson (17:18):
How much have my boots? <laugh> I'm a Texan, by the way. I was born in San Antonio, so I don't wear a Cowboy hat either. <laugh> Yeah. Well, Rob, I really appreciate your time. I'm excited to see these next few days, everything that unfolds. I know you guys worked really hard, and I hope to see you at the ball cro- bar crawl tonight, right? 

Rob Chambers (17:35):
Nice definitely. Yeah. Great. Thanks for your time, very nice to talk to you. Yeah, 

Jessica Denson (17:38):
Thank you. Bye. 

Rob Chambers (17:39):
Bye. 

Jessica Denson (17:39):
Bye. On future episodes of Connected National, we'll bring you more details from Connected America taking place in Dallas, Texas. Until then, I'm Jessica Enson, and this is Connected Nation.