Wireless & Convergence

Customers expect seamless and uninterrupted connectivity everywhere.

Simply providing connectivity over multiple access network types is not sufficient to meet customers’ expectations and delivering operational efficiencies when managing these as independent networks. This track will explore building a converged network, examining the utilization of O-RAN, multi-access technologies, network slicing, and Wi-Fi to provide a comprehensive solution.

Track Speakers

Carol Ansley

Senior Lead Architect
Cox Communications

Mahmoud ElMeligui

Principal Designer
Rogers Communications

Rahil Gandotra

Lead Architect, Wireless Technology
CableLabs

Hans Geerdes

Principal Strategist
CableLabs

Dr. Robert Howald

Fellow
Comcast

Loay Kreishan

Charter Communications

Pratyusha Malladi

Director of Wireless Products
Charter Communications

Sanjay Patel

Sr. Director Strategy
CableLabs

Josh Redmore

Principal Architect
CableLabs

Chris Ross

Manager, Systems Engineering
RUCKUS Networks

Lakhbir Singh

Principal Engineer III
Charter Communications

Chris Stengrim

VP, Technology Strategy
CableLabs

Madalina Suceveanu

Managing Director – Mobile and Cloud
Liberty Global

Colleen Szymanik

Distinguished Engineer
Comcast

Haynes Taylor

VP, Strategy
Cox Communications

Rikin Thakker

Chief Technology Officer
NCTA

Dorin Viorel

Distinguished Technologist
CableLabs

Ian Wheelock

CTO Europe
Vantiva

Roy Williams

Integrator
Rogers Communications

Track Sessions​

Agenda Tabs

City Tour: National Mall: Monuments & Memorials Architecture Tour

3:00 PM
- 5:00 PM

City Tour: Dupont Circle & Embassy Row Tour

3:00 PM
- 5:00 PM

City Tour: The Spies of Embassy Row

3:00 PM
- 5:00 PM

City Tour: Georgetown Spy Tour

3:00 PM
- 5:00 PM

Cable TV Pioneers 59th Annual Banquet

6:00 PM
- 9:00 PM

Chapter Leadership Breakfast

7:30 AM
- 8:45 AM

Headliners

8:30 AM
- 10:45 AM
Maria Popo
President & Chief Executive Officer
SCTE

Women’s TechConnect Program Graduation Luncheon

12:00 PM
- 2:00 PM

Circle of Eagles Luncheon

12:30 PM
- 1:30 PM
AI & Automation

Intelligence at the Edge

1:00 PM
- 2:15 PM
Moderator
Megan Collins
Senior AI/ML Engineer
CableLabs
Charles Cheevers
Chief Technology Officer
Vantiva
Nader Foroughi
Distinguished Engineer
Comcast
Wireline

Self-Healing Networks: The New Frontier of DOCSIS Operations

1:00 PM
- 2:15 PM
Moderator
Dan Rice
Vice President, Access Network Engineering
Comcast
Robert Lund
Principal Engineer
Comcast
Brady Volpe
Chief Product Officer
Open Vault
Karthik Sundaresan
Distinguished Technologist & Director of HFC Solutions
CableLabs
Wireless & Convergence

Track Keynote: Building the Converged Future: Fixed + Mobile + Cloud

1:00 PM
- 1:20 PM
Madalina Suceveanu
Managing Director – Mobile and Cloud
Liberty Global
Operations, Network Planning & Construction

Track Keynote: Protecting What Lies Beneath: Advancing Standards for Underground Damage Prevention

1:00 PM
- 1:20 PM
Sarah Magruder Lyle
President & CEO
Common Ground Alliance
StreamTech

Live Streaming at Scale

1:00 PM
- 2:15 PM
Rebecca Sirmons
General Manager & Head of NASA+
NASA
Lee Erickson
NASA
Alex Giladi
Comcast

AI at the Edge: Redefinining Impairment Detection in HFC Networks

1:00 PM
- 1:20 PM
Nader Foroughi
Distinguished Engineer
Comcast

Reliability, Not Just Speed: Unlocking the True Power of DOCSIS with PNM and PMA

1:00 PM
- 1:40 PM
Brady Volpe
Chief Product Officer
Open Vault

Autonomous Networks in Action: Self-Healing on Live Networks

1:00 PM
- 2:15 PM
Moderator
Dan Rice
Vice President, Access Network Engineering
Comcast
Brady Volpe
Chief Product Officer
Open Vault
Robert Lund
Principal Engineer
Comcast
Karthik Sundaresan
Distinguished Technologist & Director of HFC Solutions
CableLabs

How Do We Make Live Streaming at Scale (with Ads) Work?

1:00 PM
- 2:15 PM
Alex Giladi
Comcast
AI & Automation

Hyper-Skilling the Workforce: AI-Powered Skill Assessment and Training for Operational Excellence

1:15 PM
- 1:30 PM
Mike O’Dell
Distinguished Engineer
Comcast
Wireless & Convergence

Monitoring, Managing, and Maximizing Wireless Networks

1:20 PM
- 2:15 PM
Pratyusha Malladi
Director of Wireless Products
Charter Communications
Rahil Gandotra
Lead Architect, Wireless Technology
CableLabs
Operations, Network Planning & Construction

Future-Proofing Underground Infrastructure

1:20 PM
- 2:15 PM
Moderator
Andrew Bundy
Sr Manager, Enterprise Data Engineering
Comcast
Dervon Gaskins
Vice President
ITG
Matt Fragale
Vice President
Irth Solutions
Melissa Watters
Program Manager
Charter Communications
Chuck Key
Chairman
Tennessee 811

The Service Provider path to drive the Home Edge AI solution to scaling Home Inference requirements.

1:20 PM
- 1:40 PM
Charles Cheevers
Chief Technology Officer
Vantiva

An Automated Spectrum Monitoring Framework

1:20 PM
- 2:15 PM
Rahil Gandotra
Lead Architect, Wireless Technology
CableLabs

Beyond the Paint: Next-Gen Solutions for Underground Damage Prevention

1:30 PM
- 2:15 PM
Moderator
Andrew Bundy
Sr Manager, Enterprise Data Engineering
Comcast
Dervon Gaskins
Vice President
ITG
Matt Fragale
Vice President
Irth Solutions
Melissa Watters
Program Manager
Charter Communications
Chuck Key
Chairman
Tennessee 811

Nasa Case Study: Best practice content preparation for streaming

1:30 PM
- 2:15 PM
Rebecca Sirmons
General Manager & Head of NASA+
NASA
Lee Erickson
NASA

Connecting the Dots: How AI Supercharges Wi-Fi and 5G Connectivity

1:35 PM
- 1:55 PM
Pratyusha Malladi
Director of Wireless Products
Charter Communications

Agentic AI Transforming Network Operations

1:40 PM
- 2:15 PM
Moderator
Megan Collins
Senior AI/ML Engineer
CableLabs

Networking Break

2:15 PM
- 2:30 PM
AI & Automation

Agentic AI and the Metrics That Matter

2:30 PM
- 3:45 PM
Moderator
Nameet Dutia
Sr. Solutions Architect (AI/ML)
AWS
Brock Bose
Vice President Data Science
Charter Communications
Dr. Veronica Bloom
Vice President Data Science
Charter Communications
Rohan Khatavkar
Director Data Science
Charter Communications
Dr. Jennifer Andreoli-Fang
Sr. Manager Solutions Architecture
AWS
Wireline

The Intelligent Access Network: Architectures, Automation, and the Edge

2:30 PM
- 3:45 PM
Carlos Sanchez
Ecosystem Development Manager
Intel Corporation
Mike Lafser
Technical Solutions Architect
World Wide Technology
Shlomo Ovadia
Principal Engineer III
Charter Communications
Marc Morrissette
Sr. Principal Broadband Hardware Engineer
Comcast
Robert Wilmoth
Senior Principal Industry Specialist
Red Hat
Wireless & Convergence

The Reliability Revolution in Wi-Fi

2:30 PM
- 3:45 PM
Moderator
Josh Redmore
Principal Architect
CableLabs
Loay Kreishan
Charter Communications
Carol Ansley
Senior Lead Architect
Cox Communications
Chris Ross
Manager, Systems Engineering
RUCKUS Networks
Ian Wheelock
CTO Europe
Vantiva
Colleen Szymanik
Distinguished Engineer
Comcast
Differentiated Services

Beyond Connectivity: Creating Value with Next-Gen Broadband and Edge Innovation

2:30 PM
- 4:00 PM
Moderator
John-Michael Cortez
Head of Government and Community Affairs for the South and Southwest
GFiber
Moderator
Ari Banerjee
Chief Strategy Officer
Netcracker Technology
Nick Saporito
Head of Product
GFiber
Bob Titus
CTO
Netcracker Technology
Dave Smith
Sr. Director, Platform, Cloud and OSS Strategy and Architecture
Rogers Communications
Brad Carpenter
COO
C Spire
Operations, Network Planning & Construction

Smart Construction for a Connected Future

2:30 PM
- 3:45 PM
Moderator
Dan Levac
Senior New Business Development Manager
Preformed Line Products (PLP)
Moderator
Jennifer Smardo
SVP, Network Implementation
Comcast
Adam Kersnowski
SVP of Strategic Accounts
AirWorks
Shane Portfolio
Chief Technology Officer
Congruex
Bo Gresham
Vice President of Strategy
Dycom Industries
John Fluharty
Project Executive
Troy Construction
Ryan Mountin
Vice President
Midwest Fiber Solutions
Steve Sellenriek
CEO
Sellenriek Construction
StreamTech

Delivering and Boosting QoE

2:30 PM
- 3:15 PM

Not Your Grandfather’s Amplifier!

2:30 PM
- 2:50 PM
Marc Morrissette
Sr. Principal Broadband Hardware Engineer
Comcast

Wi-Fi Reliability

2:30 PM
- 3:15 PM
Moderator
Josh Redmore
Principal Architect
CableLabs
Loay Kreishan
Charter Communications
Carol Ansley
Senior Lead Architect
Cox Communications
Chris Ross
Manager, Systems Engineering
RUCKUS Networks
Colleen Szymanik
Distinguished Engineer
Comcast

Speed Meets Storytelling: How GFiber Is Reviving 50 Years of Culture With Next-Gen Broadband

2:30 PM
- 3:15 PM
Moderator
John-Michael Cortez
Head of Government and Community Affairs for the South and Southwest
GFiber
Nick Saporito
Head of Product
GFiber

Enhancing Broadband Construction: Technology as a Workforce Multiplier

2:30 PM
- 3:15 PM
Moderator
Jennifer Smardo
SVP, Network Implementation
Comcast
Shane Portfolio
Chief Technology Officer
Congruex
Bo Gresham
Vice President of Strategy
Dycom Industries
Adam Kersnowski
SVP of Strategic Accounts
AirWorks

Track Keynote

2:30 PM
- 3:00 PM

The Challenges of Quality at Scale

2:30 PM
- 3:15 PM

Overview of Shifted FDX in the D4.0 Physical and MAC Layers Specifications

2:50 PM
- 3:10 PM
Shlomo Ovadia
Principal Engineer III
Charter Communications

Case Study: How to deliver quality streaming at scale in a fragmented device market

2:50 PM
- 3:15 PM

Agentic AI Masterclass: Building Intelligent Assistants to Revolutionize Broadband

3:00 PM
- 3:45 PM
Moderator
Nameet Dutia
Sr. Solutions Architect (AI/ML)
AWS
Brock Bose
Vice President Data Science
Charter Communications
Dr. Veronica Bloom
Vice President Data Science
Charter Communications
Rohan Khatavkar
Director Data Science
Charter Communications
Dr. Jennifer Andreoli-Fang
Sr. Manager Solutions Architecture
AWS

Enabling Convergence in Cable Networks Through a Common Cloud Platform

3:10 PM
- 3:45 PM
Mike Lafser
Technical Solutions Architect
World Wide Technology
Robert Wilmoth
Senior Principal Industry Specialist
Red Hat
Carlos Sanchez
Ecosystem Development Manager
Intel Corporation

Seizing the Edge Opportunity: Optimizing Broadband Architectures to Create Compelling Customer Experiences

3:15 PM
- 4:00 PM
Moderator
Ari Banerjee
Chief Strategy Officer
Netcracker Technology
Bob Titus
CTO
Netcracker Technology
Dave Smith
Sr. Director, Platform, Cloud and OSS Strategy and Architecture
Rogers Communications
Brad Carpenter
COO
C Spire

Fiber Construction Standards in Action: Recommended Practices for a Reliable Network

3:15 PM
- 3:45 PM
Moderator
Dan Levac
Senior New Business Development Manager
Preformed Line Products (PLP)
John Fluharty
Project Executive
Troy Construction
Ryan Mountin
Vice President
Midwest Fiber Solutions
Steve Sellenriek
CEO
Sellenriek Construction

Beyond Speed: Transitioning from Wi-Fi 7 to Wi-Fi 8 – A Roadmap for Ultra-Reliable Networks

3:25 PM
- 3:45 PM
Ian Wheelock
CTO Europe
Vantiva

Networking Break

3:45 PM
- 4:00 PM
AI & Automation

Operationalizing LLMs in the Network Ecosystem

4:00 PM
- 5:15 PM
Shyam Sridharan
Lead Data Engineer
Cox Communications
Rohit Kuruppath
Director of Data Engineering
Cox Communications
Randy Levensalor
Distinguished Technologist
CableLabs
Lisa Pinkey Coleman
AVP, Process Intelligence and Data Effectiveness
Cox Communications
Marco Valero
Director Technology
Cox Communications
Wireline

Speed, Intelligence, and the Future of Fiber: Innovations Driving Next-Gen Transmission

4:00 PM
- 5:15 PM
Moderator
Joe Jensen
Senior Director, Value Creation
Corning
Dr. Paul Dickinson
Chairman of FOSA Advisory Council and Strategic Business Consultant for Dura-Line
FOSA Advisory Council
Jordan Gross
Director of Government Affairs
Lumen Technologies
Venk Mutalik
Fellow
Comcast
Dr. Alberto Campos
Fellow
CableLabs
Wireless & Convergence

Redefining the Wireless Edge

4:00 PM
- 5:15 PM
Mahmoud ElMeligui
Principal Designer
Rogers Communications
Dorin Viorel
Distinguished Technologist
CableLabs
Dr. Robert Howald
Fellow
Comcast
Differentiated Services

Architecting Trust and Security in Next-Gen Networks

4:00 PM
- 5:15 PM
Cesar Amaro
Sr. Program Manager IT Security & Compliance
Liberty Latin America
Mr Rohith Kumar Punithavel
Senior Software Engineer
Charter Communications
Operations, Network Planning & Construction

Automating the Future of Operations

4:00 PM
- 5:15 PM
Chantal Blake
Technical Program Manager
Comcast
Amir Leventer
Vice President Product, Cloud Services
Harmonic
Allen Maharaj
Sr Manager, HFC Network Operations
Rogers Communications
Nick Holcomb
Director, Access Network Engineering
Mediacom Communications
Ian Oliver
Technology and Project Consultant
Globema
Jensen McCoy
Sr. Staff Engineer
GCI
StreamTech

Futureproofing Your Tech Stack

4:00 PM
- 5:15 PM
Weidong Mao
Comcast

Levering LLMs to auto-discover network topologies

4:00 PM
- 4:20 PM
Marco Valero
Director Technology
Cox Communications

We Feel the Need, The Need for Speed, also Lower Latency, Greater Compute and Pervasive Telemetry

4:00 PM
- 4:20 PM
Venk Mutalik
Fellow
Comcast

Fat Pipe vs Thin Air: A Streamer’s Tale

4:00 PM
- 4:20 PM
Dr. Robert Howald
Fellow
Comcast

5G Cloud RAN Architecture Evolution

4:00 PM
- 5:15 PM
Mahmoud ElMeligui
Principal Designer
Rogers Communications

OneID, Infinite Possibilities: How a Global ID Revolutionizes Security and User Experience in Telecom

4:00 PM
- 4:45 PM
Cesar Amaro
Sr. Program Manager IT Security & Compliance
Liberty Latin America

Enhancing Network Operations Leveraging Automation for Efficiency, Reliability, and Scalability

4:00 PM
- 4:20 PM
Allen Maharaj
Sr Manager, HFC Network Operations
Rogers Communications

The Role of AI in the Streaming Tech Stack

4:00 PM
- 5:15 PM
Weidong Mao
Comcast

5G FWA O2I Performance for a US Residential Home

4:20 PM
- 4:40 PM
Dorin Viorel
Distinguished Technologist
CableLabs

Using AI and Automation for Broadband Operations

4:20 PM
- 4:40 PM
Amir Leventer
Vice President Product, Cloud Services
Harmonic
Jensen McCoy
Sr. Staff Engineer
GCI

Take Me Home, Coax Road

4:20 PM
- 5:15 PM
Chantal Blake
Technical Program Manager
Comcast

Emerging Fiber Technologies – How AI is Driving Innovation of Future of Transmission Networks

4:25 PM
- 5:10 PM
Moderator
Joe Jensen
Senior Director, Value Creation
Corning
Dr. Paul Dickinson
Chairman of FOSA Advisory Council and Strategic Business Consultant for Dura-Line
FOSA Advisory Council
Jordan Gross
Director of Government Affairs
Lumen Technologies
Dr. Alberto Campos
Fellow
CableLabs

Edge LLM Hosting

4:30 PM
- 4:50 PM
Randy Levensalor
Distinguished Technologist
CableLabs

Case Study: Implementing emerging Ad Tech to meeting the demands of new advertising formats

4:30 PM
- 5:15 PM

Designing Smarter: AI-Powered Automation in Access Network Planning

4:40 PM
- 5:00 PM
Nick Holcomb
Director, Access Network Engineering
Mediacom Communications
Ian Oliver
Technology and Project Consultant
Globema

Leveraging the Power of Large Language Models to Revolutionize Order Fulfillment

4:55 PM
- 5:15 PM
Shyam Sridharan
Lead Data Engineer
Cox Communications
Rohit Kuruppath
Director of Data Engineering
Cox Communications
Lisa Pinkey Coleman
AVP, Process Intelligence and Data Effectiveness
Cox Communications

Implementation Strategies for Private Secure Network

4:55 PM
- 5:15 PM
Mr Rohith Kumar Punithavel
Senior Software Engineer
Charter Communications

Expo Happy Hour

5:00 PM
- 6:00 PM

SCTE Industry Awards

5:30 PM
- 6:00 PM

Chairman’s Reception

6:15 PM
- 8:00 PM

Headliners

8:45 AM
- 10:30 AM
Maria Popo
President & Chief Executive Officer
SCTE
Elad Nafshi
Executive Vice President, Chief Network Officer
Comcast
Tom Monaghan
Executive Vice President, Field Operations
Charter Communications
AI & Automation

AI-Powered Fiber Observability

12:30 PM
- 1:45 PM
Douglas Blue
Business Development - North America
Nokia
Robert Gaydos
Comcast Fellow
Comcast
Karthik Choutagunta
Principal Architect
CableLabs
Wireline

Track Keynote

12:30 PM
- 1:00 PM
Elad Nafshi
Executive Vice President, Chief Network Officer
Comcast
Wireless & Convergence

Converging Networks, Expanding Horizons

12:30 PM
- 1:45 PM
Chris Stengrim
VP, Technology Strategy
CableLabs
Roy Williams
Integrator
Rogers Communications
Operations, Network Planning & Construction

Disaster Resilience and Power Continuity for Broadband Infrastructure

12:30 PM
- 1:45 PM
Moderator
Derek DiGiacomo
Senior Director, Energy Management Programs and Business Continuity
SCTE
Victor Davis
Chris Anderson
Principal Advisor, National Security & Emergency Preparedness
Lumen Technologies
Joe Viens
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
Charter Communications
Alexander Falcon
Senior Product Manager
Comcast
Kevin Domer
National Security/ Emergency Preparedness Manager
Comcast
StreamTech

Network Management and Streaming Architectures

12:30 PM
- 1:45 PM

Advances in Distributed Acoustic Sensing: Transformative Applications for Cable’s Next-Gen Resilient Fiber Networks

12:30 PM
- 1:45 PM
Karthik Choutagunta
Principal Architect
CableLabs

Optimizing Wireless and Broadband with Anyhaul over Passive Optical Networks (PON)

12:30 PM
- 1:45 PM
Roy Williams
Integrator
Rogers Communications

PACE Planning for Critical Infrastructure Broadband Providers and SCTE 239

12:30 PM
- 1:15 PM
Moderator
Derek DiGiacomo
Senior Director, Energy Management Programs and Business Continuity
SCTE
Victor Davis
Chris Anderson
Principal Advisor, National Security & Emergency Preparedness
Lumen Technologies
Joe Viens
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
Charter Communications
Kevin Domer
National Security/ Emergency Preparedness Manager
Comcast

Pushing the Streaming Architecture to the Edge

12:30 PM
- 1:45 PM

Case Study: Maximizing streaming quality through embedded caching

12:50 PM
- 1:45 PM
Wireline

The Future of FTTx: How Does PON Fit Into the Equation?

1:00 PM
- 2:00 PM
Belal Hamzeh
Vice President, Technology and Systems Engineering
Comcast

Make The Passive Optical Distribution Network Observable Using AI-powered Insights

1:00 PM
- 1:45 PM
Douglas Blue
Business Development - North America
Nokia
Robert Gaydos
Comcast Fellow
Comcast

The Future of FTTx: How Does PON Fit Into The Equation?

1:00 PM
- 1:45 PM
Belal Hamzeh
Vice President, Technology and Systems Engineering
Comcast

E.T. Phone Home: Converging Opportunities from Earth to Space

1:00 PM
- 1:45 PM
Chris Stengrim
VP, Technology Strategy
CableLabs

Portable Generator Management for Disaster Recovery

1:25 PM
- 1:45 PM
Alexander Falcon
Senior Product Manager
Comcast

Networking Break

1:45 PM
- 2:00 PM
AI & Automation

Operational Intelligence at Scale

2:00 PM
- 3:15 PM
Moderator
Derek DiGiacomo
Senior Director, Energy Management Programs and Business Continuity
SCTE
Ryan Capone
VP, Network Facilities & Energy
Comcast
Ken Nickel
Vice President
Quest Controls
Mike Glaser
Principal Architect, Critical Facilities
Cox Communications
Bill Leslie
Chief AI Acceleration Oficer
Nrby
Gavin Mitchell
VP Product Operations and Quality
Altice USA
Wireline

From Tap to CPE: Strategies to Unlock DOCSIS 4.0 Performance at Scale

2:00 PM
- 3:15 PM
Stephane Raimbault
Sr. Manager, DOCSIS Engineering Operations
Rogers Communications
Bill Wall
Principal Architect
Cox Communications
Matthew Olfert
Principal Network Architect
Rogers Communications
Wireless & Convergence

Seamless by Design: Innovative Paths to Scalable, Always-On Networks

2:00 PM
- 3:15 PM
Hans Geerdes
Principal Strategist
CableLabs
Haynes Taylor
VP, Strategy
Cox Communications
Sanjay Patel
Sr. Director Strategy
CableLabs
Operations, Network Planning & Construction

PNM Live! 2025: Proactive Maintenance Makes Reliable Networks

2:00 PM
- 3:15 PM
Moderator
Brady Volpe
Chief Product Officer
Open Vault
Jason Rupe
Distinguished Technologist
CableLabs
Larry Wolcott
Engineering Fellow
Comcast
Mike O’Dell
Distinguished Engineer
Comcast
Foad Towfiq
CEO
Promptlink
StreamTech

Securing your Streams

2:00 PM
- 3:15 PM

PNM for Capacity Additions – Methods to Support DOCSIS 4.0 Deployments and Beyond

2:00 PM
- 2:20 PM
Matthew Olfert
Principal Network Architect
Rogers Communications

Connectivity-as-a-Service

2:00 PM
- 3:15 PM
Haynes Taylor
VP, Strategy
Cox Communications
Sanjay Patel
Sr. Director Strategy
CableLabs

Leveraging HFC for Dense Mobile Coverage

2:00 PM
- 3:15 PM
Hans Geerdes
Principal Strategist
CableLabs

DOCSIS 4.0 at the Doorstep: Field Results and Design Considerations for Successful Self-Installs

2:25 PM
- 2:45 PM
Bill Wall
Principal Architect
Cox Communications

Efficient Resource Allocation for HFC Plant Repair Using ML-Driven Predictive Intelligence

2:30 PM
- 2:50 PM
Bill Leslie
Chief AI Acceleration Oficer
Nrby
Gavin Mitchell
VP Product Operations and Quality
Altice USA