The Fiber Broadband Association is adding an AI and Quantum Infrastructure Pavilion to the expo floor at Fiber Connect 2027, its annual conference for the broadband and fiber optic industry. The show is set for June 13 through 16 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tennessee, a venue large enough to hold the conference’s exhibit hall, general sessions, and a full slate of side meetings under one roof.
Fiber Connect bills itself as the largest fiber broadband event in the world, drawing network operators, equipment makers, and the investors who finance fiber buildouts across the country. The show has historically split its programming between the engineering side of the business, things like deployment costs and last-mile construction, and the policy and financing conversations that determine which markets get built out next.
The new pavilion is a direct response to how much data center and AI compute demand is now shaping decisions about where broadband capacity gets built. Fiber operators are increasingly fielding requests from hyperscalers and colocation providers looking to secure dark fiber routes between data center campuses, and the association wants that conversation to have its own dedicated space on the show floor rather than getting folded into general networking sessions.
The association has been building toward this expansion for a couple of years now, having launched a smaller AI and emerging technology summit at the 2026 edition of the show. Growing that into a full pavilion for 2027 suggests the AI-driven demand for fiber capacity has moved from a side conversation to a core part of the event’s programming.
Nashville has become a regular host city for large trade shows given its hotel capacity and direct flight access, and the Gaylord Opryland complex in particular has hosted several major telecom and broadband events in recent years.