The 2019 IAMU Broadband Conference dates are set - March 13 & 14, 2019.  The dates are earlier than in past conferences due to a shuffling of other Midwest telecom shows that we don't want to conflict with.  The Minnesota Telecom Alliance moved their conference to the last week in March and the Iowa Communications Alliance moved to the third week, forcing us to move to the second week in March.

The venue is yet to be determined but will likely be in the Des Moines area as usual. For now, put those dates on your calendar and we'll announce details as they become available.

The 8th annual IAMU Broadband Conference is in the books. 
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Over 140 people (attendees and vendor representatives) enjoyed two days of learning and networking at the Holiday Inn and Suites in Urbandale. 

 IAMU honored two individuals and one organization for outstanding support and service to municipal broadband during the inaugural Broadband Vanguard Awards held on Thursday, March 22, 2018. IAMU Executive Director Troy DeJoode presented each of the winners with a certificate during the awards ceremony.

The Iowa Heartland Chapter of the SCTE has a great training scheduled in November, and we'd encourage municipals and other broadband providers to send their technical staffs to learn more about "All Things Fiber".

The training will be held on Tuesday, November 7th at IAMU in Ankeny and Wednesday, November 8th at Kirkwood Community College in Hiawatha. On each day there will be a morning session and an afternoon session; attendees need only attend ONE session at ONE location.

To make it even more convenient, two Iowa municipals - Cedar Falls Utilities and Muscatine Power & Water - are hosting remote sessions on Tuesday, November 7th. Both the AM and PM sessions that day will be "broadcast" live from Ankeny and shown at CFU and MPW via webinar.

Morning sessions at each site (live or remote) are from 8:30am to 11:30pm and afternoon sessions are from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

The training will be led by Ron Grigsby with RDG Telecom.  Here's the scheduled agenda:

1. A brief history of Fiber Optics
2. Physical Characteristics
   • Single Mode
     • Construction
     • Uses
     • G.652
     • Ribbon vs. Loose Tube
   • Multimode
     • Construction
     • Uses
3. Connector types and uses
   • SC/UPC and SC/APC
   • LC/UPC and LC/APC
   • ST       
   • FC
   • MTP
   • Other
4. Cleaning & Care
   • Wet vs. Dry
   • Inspection
5. Testing Fiber
   • Physical
     • Light Source
     • Power Meter
     • OTDR
     • OSA
     • Fiber Inspection Probe
   • Services
     • HFC
     • Transport
     • DWDM/CWDM
     • Mux/DeMux
6. Applications for Fiber
   • HFC
   • Transport
   • PON
   • Enterprise
   • Uni-directional/Bi-directional
   • Wavelengths uses (1310/1550/PON/ITU-T Grid)

The cost is just $10 for SCTE members and $15 for non-members. Even better, the Iowa chapter can directly bill your organization for the attendees you send so no credit cards are required.

To register, CLICK HERE or go to http://www.iowaheartlandscte.org/events--training.html for all the details.  Managers, you can click the link multiple times if you'd like to register multiple employees.  We'd love to see a great turnout for this, our final training session of the year!

Mark Your Calendar!

Communities in Iowa that are in the planning or exploratory stages of a municipal broadband system are encouraged to attend a half-day workshop on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 at the IAMU Office and Training Complex in Ankeny. The workshop takes place the day before the IAMU Fall Broadband Meeting on September 20th.

Whether your community is just beginning to consider a community-owned broadband utility, or you are already well along in the process, this workshop will provide opportunities for networking with other Iowa telecom utilities to compare notes and discuss best practices.

Registration information will be sent later this summer so be watching Broadband Bytes and IAMU's Informer for more information!

The National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) has announced an agreement with the Society for Cable Telecom Engineers (SCTE) to provide member discounts on SCTE's vast library of online training courses.

The online SCTE courses are designed to enhance the skills of broadband technicians and other employees.  For a list of available courses, CLICK HERE.

In addition to NCTC discounts, the courses are less expensive if the person taking it is a member of the SCTE. As a shameless plug from yours truly, the secretary of the Iowa Heartland Chapter of the SCTE, I can vouch for the value that SCTE membership brings. Also, our Iowa chapter offers a number of trainings and events to provide broadband technicians with hands-on learning. CLICK HERE for a list of the 2017 trainings!

The Iowa Communications Alliance (ICA) is hosting its second annual CyberSecurity Summit on April 24 & 25 at the Holiday Inn Airport, 6111 Fleur Drive in Des Moines.

The event will offer discussions from cybersecurity experts and telecom industry associates to help providers protect their networks help protect communities from cyber attacks.

You don't have to be a member of ICA to attend. To register or for more information, CLICK HERE.

Thank you to everyone who attended the 2017 IAMU Broadband Conference on April 22nd and 23rd! We had a lot of positive comments from both attendees and vendors and we hope you all found it a valuable use of time.