Interview
James Whitfield
VP of Network Deployment, Heartland Connect
← Read the full storyCounty clerks used to call me directly for updates. Now they check the portal. My phone actually rings for problems worth solving.
James Whitfield spent fifteen years at a national carrier before joining Heartland Connect to lead rural fiber deployment. He is blunt about what broadband grant programs get wrong.
What do grant auditors care about most?
Traceability. They want to know that home number 4,218 on County Road 12 was passed on the date you claimed, with photos and GPS to prove it. Our platform generates that package automatically. We used to assemble it by hand for spot checks — and pray we did not miss a field.
Advice for another rural ISP starting a rollout?
Invest in the coordination layer before you hire the third construction crew. Fiber is a logistics business that happens to involve glass cable. Get the block-level workflow right and the crews will outpace your expectations.
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