$48 billion of that funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal is being allocated to the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) through the following programs:
WeLink, a service provider founded in 2018, has rolled out fixed wireless service offering symmetrical speeds up to a gigabit per second in metro Las Vegas (NV) and Phoenix (AZ). WeLink founder and CEO Kevin Ross said the company plans to be in a total of 10 major metros in the next 18 to 24 months. The company will use 5G millimeter wave technology and 60 GHz wireless technology that it developed, according to Ross. The latter frequency will be used for backhaul and access. Ross also noted that the access equipment uses a mesh approach.
The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) is leading a coalition of organizations representing the world’s leading aerospace manufacturers, airlines, pilots, and operators in calling for a delay to the deployment of 5G technologies to the C-band until the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System (NAS) is ensured.
Senate Republicans are planning a strong fight against President Biden's nomination of consumer advocate Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] to the Federal Communications Commission. "I will do everything in my power to convince colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reject this extreme nominee," said Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Sohn has a longtime career in government policy, having co-founded consumer-advocacy group Public Knowledge in 2001.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo discussed the Commerce Department's role in implementing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's broadband initiatives. Of the $65 billion for broadband in the infrastructure package, $42.5 billion goes to the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration to create the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program. "I will confess this is going to be a massive undertaking for the Department of Commerce, but we’re up for it, said Raimondo.
© 1994-2025 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.
