President and CEO
Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation
South Boston, Virginia, United States
Tad Deriso is President & CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation (MBC). In 2004, he helped create MBC, a unique 501(c)(4) Not-For-Profit organization that has built and operates an advanced open‐access fiber optic network in rural areas of Southern Virginia. MBC owns and operates over 2,700 route miles of open-access middle-mile fiber network throughout Virginia and is currently building over 400 miles of new fiber routes. MBC’s network provides wholesale optical transport services, dark fiber and colocation services to over 60 carriers, ISP's, wireless carriers, data center operators and other telecom providers. MBC's unique business model helps those customers extend their network reach, reduce their costs, and improve their scalability and latency. In 2014, Tad led efforts to create LIT Networks, LLC a consortium of six other fiber providers in Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia to further expand scalable transport networks. In 2019, he created the SOVA Innovation Hub, a unique 501(c)(3) organization, partnered with Microsoft and their TechSpark initiative, to grow digital skills and entrepreneurship in Virginia with local and regional partners. To date, MBC has dramatically improved the ability of last-mile providers and electric cooperatives to reach their residential and business customers in Virginia. MBC's economic development efforts have vastly exceeded expectations, creating over $10 billion in direct private sector capital investment (data centers, advanced manufacturing and biotech industries, creating over 3,000 direct jobs in the region.
Panel: Middle Mile Networks: Defining the Road Ahead
Monday, July 29, 2024
10:45 AM – 11:15 AM CT