Small broadband providers need AI help. NCTC says it has a plan.

The AI race is already well underway at the largest network operators. But for smaller broadband providers, the questions are often more basic: Do we have the resources for this? Where is it on our list of priorities? Where do we even start? Lou Borelli is CEO of the National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC), a cooperative comprised of cable operators, ILECs, CLECs, and other independent broadband and pay-TV service providers. Borelli said its 640 or so members increasingly view AI as a “must do, not a nice to have,” but are balancing it against other priorities, including Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment-funded builds, daily operations and broader margin pressure. “They really have a challenge to balance how do I develop my AI program while I’m trying to do everything else?” Borelli said. “That’s where I think you get into a lack of resources, which is really people, as well as a balance sheet [so] they can afford to make those kinds of bets."