Petersen leads the charge for what’s been a period of rapid growth for TDS. He supervised fiber launches in more than 100 communities in 2023, which will help bring in over 200,000 new fiber service addresses. He also collaborated with his team to secure more than $1.3 billion in federal broadband support from the FCC, doing so by advocating for the extension of the A-CAM program for an additional 10 years.
My prediction for the $42 billion BEAD program: The federal BEAD program will be successful if it does two things. First, if it delivers reliable, fiber-based broadband to customers who didn’t have it before, but have it now. And, second, if state public service commissions, the NTIA and the FCC appropriately police and supervise the distribution of funds to ensure no duplicative networks are built with U.S. taxpayer dollars.
TV series everyone should binge: Any series from the Harlan Coben Collection gets my vote. They are well-crafted, suspenseful and captivating to the audience. He is a terrific author and the series follow his plot twists, making them all enjoyable.
If you were a social media influencer, what product would you peddle? I’m a big fan of Jack Victor suits and sportscoats, so probably those. I’m also a fan of Nike Air Jordan sneakers, particularly those that are UNC-Chapel Hill colors where our son goes to school. They have an amazing Nike shoe museum on campus.
Book, movie or TV series that greatly influenced my leadership style: “Boys in the Boat,” the novel by Daniel Brown, is a favorite book of mine. The hard work, determination and grit shown by the characters to rise to the occasion from modest means to become Olympians was inspiring and motivational. There are a lot of lessons from the book that can be utilized in business to solve complex problems or to overcome short-term adversity.
Summer Olympics event you most want to see in person? We’d love to see the swimming events in Paris. Both of my adult children were swimmers for many years, my oldest swam in the Big East conference for Butler University and our son swam through high school. Several of their friends will be on the USA Olympic swimming team, so it would be cool to watch them swim and support them.