Brendan Carr
Photo courtesy of Midco

Known for years as the FCC’s unofficial pole climber, Brendan Carr naturally had to kick things off Wednesday with a quick 200-foot tower climb with Brandon Foster, VIKOR’s Director of Safety and Field Operations. However, the day before, he went up in a bucket at a Midco construction site in Sioux Falls where he lashed new aerial fiber.

“It was a lot of fun. They actually trusted me to get up in the bucket truck by myself, which was great. Kind of like a little video game, but I found my way up there eventually,” Carr said.

He later ran a drill pulling conduit for a new fiber line in another Midco project. “It’s great to be back in Sioux Falls and spend time on the ground with these amazing crews working to expand America’s high-speed internet,” Carr said. “As FCC Chairman, I want to make it easier for technicians in Sioux Falls and all across the country to build out new networks and modern infrastructure. We appreciate all their hard work and effort to advance next generation connectivity.”

Carr goes way back with VIKOR’s Foster, who accompanied the regulator on his first tower climb in 2018. The now FCC Chair has made several higher ascents since then, including a 2,000-foot tower in Rowena, South Dakota, with Foster in 2023.

“I was admittedly a little shaky on that first climb. And it certainly didn’t help when the other climber we were with, Leland, started trying to shake the platform up top. But from that day forward, I’ve considered Brandon a good friend and Leland, well, just a so-so friend,” Carr joked during his unveiling of his “Build America” agenda.

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