NTIA needs more time to craft Buy America rules for BEAD

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) beat its June 30 deadline to announce the amounts it will award each state through its $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, but now the clock is ticking as states and broadband service providers await another milestone. The NTIA has yet to clarify how state broadband deployments can comply with the Build America Buy America Act (BABA). Like BEAD, BABA is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). It establishes a domestic content procurement preference for all federal financial assistance obligated for infrastructure projects after May 14, 2022, according to the US Department of Commerce. Products typically count as “made in America” if they are manufactured in the US and 55% of their components (by cost) are mined, produced or manufactured in the US. The devil will be in the details for broadband service providers, as the NTIA is expected to provide some BABA waivers related to the BEAD funding. NTIA policy advisor William Arbuckle said he hoped proposed waivers would be available “[summer 2023], at the same time that states are finding out how much money they get.” Now, NTIA says it will wait until later in summer 2023 to provide more guidance on the BABA requirements for BEAD. As Arbuckle explained, the agency must balance support for domestic manufacturing with the mandate to connect all Americans to broadband. Clearly, NTIA has a lot to consider as it drafts rules for how BEAD and BABA can work together. The agency is likely to ask for public comment on its first draft of the rules.