What It Takes to Connect the Unconnected

A lot of the most important broadband deployment work happens quietly, driven by leaders who are more focused on execution than visibility. The Connect the Unconnected Award is built to recognize them.

Presented by Corning in collaboration with ISE, the award honors telecommunications professionals who have demonstrated exceptional vision and dedication to bridging the digital divide through strategic fiber broadband expansion. These are leaders who proactively identify underserved areas, implement innovative solutions to overcome deployment challenges, and bring a deep understanding of community needs to every project they take on. 

For Corning, the partnership is a natural extension of a larger commitment.

"We believe that to fully connect America, we have to connect rural America," said Bob Whitman, Corning's Vice President of Market and Product Strategy. "Closing the digital divide requires strong partnerships and local leadership. By recognizing community champions, this award reinforces Corning's commitment to supporting the entire broadband ecosystem, from strategy and planning to design, deployment, and long-term network success."

We asked Whitman what the award is really looking for and what he hopes it inspires.

What does a community champion look like?

Whitman frames the role as less of a technical function and more of a local one.

What meaningful connectivity requires

For Whitman, durability is the real infrastructure standard. The effects are tangible: students access the same digital tools as their peers elsewhere, clinics expand care through telemedicine, and local businesses find room to grow. The infrastructure built now determines who has access to those possibilities going forward.

"Meaningful connectivity means reliability and capacity that hold up over decades, not funding cycles," he said. "Fiber delivers that."

What separates the leaders who succeed

Whitman's distinction centers on how connecting the unconnected is approached. The obstacles in underserved markets, like low population density, difficult terrain, constrained budgets, and complicated regulatory landscapes, are real, but he's clear they aren't the differentiator.

"Successful leaders don't take a one-size-fits-all approach," he said. "They tailor network designs to local conditions, leverage partnerships, and make smart technology choices that simplify deployment."

That collaborative instinct, he argues, is what the hardest deployments require.

"Connecting the unconnected is not something any one organization can do alone," he said. "It requires collaboration between manufacturers, operators, policymakers, and community leaders."

What Corning hopes the award inspires

For Whitman, the award's purpose goes beyond individual recognition.

"I hope this award inspires the industry to think bigger and act bolder, to see underserved communities not as edge cases but as essential to our nation's future," he said. "Most of all, I hope this award inspires more leaders to step forward and commit to delivering the transformative power of fiber broadband to every corner of the country."

Nominations are open through April 24.

The winner will be announced at the Fiber Connect Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida, May 17-20. Questions can be directed to [email protected].

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