Metro Connect USA

WHEN: 23–25 February 2026
WHERE: Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

WHY: Metro Connect USA 2026 brought together over 3,500 senior executives from across the fiber, data center, cloud, and investment ecosystem for one of the industry’s most influential gatherings. As the 25th anniversary edition, the event served as a key platform for deal-making, partnership building, and strategic discussions shaping the future of US digital infrastructure. The agenda featured high-level keynotes, CEO panels, and discussions on AI-driven infrastructure, fiber expansion, data center investment, and the evolving connectivity landscape. Alongside curated networking experiences and exclusive roundtables, the event reinforced its position as the premier meeting point where industry leaders converge to drive growth, innovation, and collaboration.

Drinks over the terrace
A packed room for the FTTH meetup in partnership with Nokia
Marc Ganzi (DigitalBridge) delivers the opening keynote address
Andrej Danis (AlixPartners) leads the Data Center Fiber Meetup
Mike Maniscalco (QumulusAI) leads the AI Infrastructure meetup, uniting neoclouds, hyperscale, and data center and fiber operators.
Amber Jackson (Capacity) interviews Anubhav Raj (Aligned Data Centers) on the largest data center acquisition in history
Panel on “Expanding Power Infrastructure for the Future Of AI”. From [L] to [R]: Sean McDevitt, (Arthur D. Little), Mark Gusakov (Digital Infrastructure Alliance), Brian Smith (Nuclear Reactor Development, Idaho National Laborator), John Chesser (Quantica Infrastructure), Scott Bank, (Energy Services, First American Title Insurance), and Alex Hernandez (PowerBridge)
The highly anticipated CEO panel [L] to [R] from featuring Kenny Gunderman (Uniti), Steve Smith (Zayo), Chris Morley (Lightpath), and Jiva Jagtap (FTI)
Meeting lounges buzz with activity over three days