“I had no plans of getting into telecom,” said Trent Edwards, who fell into the world of broadband construction in 1995 thanks to “a little creative, a little crazy” and a curiosity for the revolution taking place in digital communications.
Now, with nearly three decades in the industry, he is the CEO of Mears Broadband, a fiber network construction contractor. He spoke with us about his career, the opportunities in broadband construction and how he made his way to the top by taking an alternative path that did not include a college education.
“The opportunity within construction is immense. People have a million different ways to go,” Edwards told Broadband Nation. “You can be a laborer, you can go into project management, you can go into leadership, you can drive an entrepreneurial spirit and start your own company. What people don't understand is it's an absolute path to a great life and a great living.”
“I submit to everyone that if you're lost and trying to figure out something that you enjoy, give this a try. The industry is going to take chances on people and train and develop people that historically we may not have, and I welcome that. Some of the best people that I get the opportunity to work with came from out of the blue," he said.
Alongside the myriad of career opportunities, Edwards highlighted the work’s impact on connecting households and communities as an ever-present motive to the job.
“Everything is better with a high-capacity broadband connection. Healthcare systems are better, school systems are better, life in general is better,” he explained. “You're delivering that as an individual in this industry.”
‘The Great Build’
Building a career in broadband wasn't always Edwards' plan. The so-called traditional route of higher education never seemed like a very compelling pathway.
"I grew up in Arkansas, humble family, but education was not for me. I’m not a huge fan of academia... I wasn't unintelligent, I just didn’t like it. I would lose my mind listening to things that did not interest me and I didn’t see value in. Obviously, it was extremely valuable. I was just an arrogant little teenager, but it just wasn't for me.”
Edwards fell down the broadband rabbit hole with no roadmap in mind — he simply saw the transformation taking place within telecommunications. But what he found in the work became far more fulfilling than he expected.
“It was the first time in my life that I was 100% committed to something, and I actually loved doing it. It was rewarding,” he explained. “That’s what fed my desire to continue to do this and make a career out of it.”
Five years into that career in the early 2000s, Edwards recalled the energy in the industry, with the boom in dot-coms and fiber metro builds. “That was extremely exciting. I remember very vividly people [saying], ‘We've never seen anything like this in this industry.’”
Today, Edwards believes that momentum and excitement is tenfold. “This is unlike anything that we've ever seen... I call it the great build,” he said, with unprecedented amounts of funding rolling out to each state — chiefly from the Broadband Equity and Access Deployment (BEAD) program, a program that is helping to fund
Edwards noted that the work isn’t easy. The jobs are often physical, messy and tiring. “It's building things and digging in dirt and operating heavy equipment, [it’s] disruptive and customers are never happy. You’ve got to kind of be bold to do this stuff.”
But the process of starting a project, seeing it to completion and, moreover, seeing the physical outcome and the community it connected has continued to make it worthwhile in Edward’s eyes for nearly 30 years.
“This is a currency that the people have never had, especially in the underserved and rural areas. And it's necessary for today,” he said. “Allowing people that have never had access to [internet connection] to now have the opportunity to gain access and the currency to do whatever the hell they want to do, that’s what’s so exciting about it.”
Masters degree or GED, it’s all about capability
A student coming out of college in 2024 owes, on average, $37,088 in federal loans. While in some roles it may still be necessary, Edwards explained that for such a high price tag, degrees don’t always guarantee success — nor are they often needed — in broadband deployment.
“Just because you have a degree doesn’t mean you have the capability,” he elaborated. “I have so many people that are extremely degreed, but they can’t lead men and women. I have people with zero degrees [who] are amazing at that.”
Finding success in broadband means exploring where you have the capability, he continued, and that isn’t always found in a classroom. “Certification is great, but I think where you learn the most in this industry is being around it and having the desire to learn and work."
When Edwards looks to hire, for instance, he doesn’t look at certification as guaranteed competency. He is far more interested in their commitment to learning about the trades and the industry. “If you have a desire, we can teach you anything. If you're willing to put in sweat equity and show up on time, sky's the limit for your career.”
Of course, if you’re looking to be a general counsel within the industry, you’ll need a law degree, but Edwards wants to remind people, “This is an industry full of opportunity for anyone."
"Whether you have a master's degree or you have a GED, this is an industry [where] everybody can have the chance. I’m surrounded by people that are extremely successful with education and no education,” he concluded.