Media Fact Sheet

About Conexon:

Founded in 2015, Conexon is a broadband consulting firm that works exclusively with Rural Electric Cooperatives to bring fiber to the home (FTTH) in rural communities across the country. Our goal is to ensure that every rural home and business in every rural community has access to the life- and community-changing benefits fiber-optic networks deliver. Conexon is based in Kansas City with employees located at multiple client sites around the country.
Conexon debuted on the Inc. 500 listing of America’s fastest-growing private companies in 2020, with three-year revenue growth of over 1,400%. The company ranked No.9 within the telecommunications industry and No. 325 overall. Within Missouri, Conexon was ranked as the 4th fastest-growing private company, with 135 employees and growing.

Conexon Services:

• Conexon offers electric cooperative clients end-to-end broadband deployment and operations support, from a project’s conception all the way through to its long-term sustainability.
  Feasibility studies/ business plans: Conexon has completed more than 160 feasibility studies for co-ops across the country.
• Funding: Conexon is the only firm with 25 years of experience lobbying on behalf of electric co-ops at the federal level.
• Network design: Conexon’s auto-mapping capability limits human error and allows a co-op to deploy faster and more efficiently.
• Construction: The Conexon team has more than 30 years of experience constructing and managing fiber network projects end-to-end.
• Customer Support: Conexon offers expert in-house technical support through a call center led by co-op veterans.
• Voice Services: Providing voice services is a requirement in securing broadband federal funding. Conexon Connect provides a turnkey solution for co-ops to launch this complex service.
• Marketing Solutions: Conexon offers comprehensive marketing resources and support for every phase of a co-op's network deployment.

Conexon experience and expertise:

• Conexon is comprised of professionals who have worked in electric cooperatives and the telecommunications industry, and offers decades of individual experience in business planning, building networks, marketing and selling telecommunications.
• Conexon partner Randy Klindt is considered an electric cooperative broadband pioneer. In 2010, he developed and successfully piloted a plan for Co-Mo Electric Cooperative to deploy FTTH. It was the nation’s first privately funded cooperative FTTH project to serve 100% of it's members. The project achieved its first break-even month 2 years ahead of projections.
• Conexon partner Jonathan Chambers is the former Chief of the Office of Strategic Planning for the Federal Communications Commission. He was part of the senior leadership at the FCC that reformed $12 billion in annual federal spending, including the rural and high-cost fund, e-rate, telecommunications relay services and the lifeline programs. Jonathan also conceived of the Rural Broadband Experiment and was involved in the auction design for the Connect America Fund.
• Conexon is supported by a talented, experienced senior team with over 35 years of hands-on telecommunications experience and management of fiber-to-the-home deployments; network design, architecture and operations of the Internet, Voice, and IPTV networks; and selling and deploying communications technologies including residential, commercial VoIP, broadband services, as well as back-office support.

Conexon success:

• In 2018, the FCC awarded nearly $200 million in broadband funding to a consortium of 19 electric cooperatives to build out gigabit-capable networks. The Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium (RECC), assembled, designed and led by Conexon, was the largest and most successful bidding consortium in FCC history. Those 19 cooperatives continue building in their communities today.
• In 2020, Conexon assembled the next generation of the RECC, with over 90 cooperatives participating to bid for funds in the $20 billion Rural Opportunity Fund (RDOF). The RECC was the first electric co-op consortium to qualify for RDOF auction participation.
• To date, Conexon has assisted more than 250 electric cooperatives, 60 of which are deploying fiber networks. Through the company’s work with co-ops, there are nearly 100,000 connected fiber-to-the-home subscribers across the U.S.
• Conexon has been cited for its exceptional growth and for it's impact on the rural broadband landscape, listed among Broadband Communities Magazine’s Fiber-To-The-Home Top 100 for three consecutive years.

Boilerplate:

Conexon is a leader in the electric cooperative broadband movement, with a mission of closing the digital divide through fiber to the home. Founded in 2015, Conexon’s architecture and approach enable electric cooperatives to leverage their infrastructures to deliver fiber broadband services efficiently and affordably to 100 percent of their membership. The company is composed of professionals who have worked in electric cooperatives and the telecommunications industry, offering decades of individual experience in business planning, building networks, marketing and selling telecommunications. Conexon offers clients end-to-end broadband deployment and operations support, working with them to analyze economic feasibility, secure financing, design the network, manage construction, provide operational support, optimize business performance and determine key partnerships. Conexon has assisted more than 200 electric cooperatives, 60 of which are deploying fiber networks, with more than 500,000 rural Americans connected to fiber to the home. The company has secured nearly $2 billion in federal, state and local grants and subsidies for its clients.

In 2021, Conexon launched its internet service provider subsidiary, Conexon Connect, an entity formed to operate and manage cooperative and investor-owned fiber-to-the-home networks. To date, Connect operates in Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Missouri.