The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires the use of Made in America construction materials and manufactured products for federally funded infrastructure projects, including high-speed Internet service deployment under the Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. As a result, Calix is announcing an initial investment of up to $6 million, and an ongoing investment for operations of up to $15 million per year, which will result in creating approximately 100 American jobs. Calix will partner with Jabil, a leading global contract manufacturer, to move the production of high-tech electronics from Southeast Asia to the United States, including Optical Line Terminals and Optical Network Terminals to Michigan. Calix will also partner with Hisense in New Jersey to produce optical modules, while partnering with Gemtek to produce additional ONTs at its California facility.

The Kentucky Office of Systems Equity in partnership with the Office of Broadband seeks public input on the draft of Kentucky’s first Digital Equity Plan. Obtaining input from Kentuckians on high-speed internet expansion and digital access throughout the commonwealth is part of the federal funding process. Please review and comment on the Draft State Digital Equity Plan and the Draft State Digital Equity Plan​ Appendices until October 15, 2023, here. The comments received will be considered for inclusion in the final Kentucky Digital Equity Plan. 

Puerto Rico has released its Digital Equity Plan and Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program Initial Proposal Volume 1 for the input and comments of its citizens. The comment period is currently open until Sunday, October 15. Citizens can visit the website at the following link. 

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD), announced the final winners of the 2023 5G Challenge and its $7,000,000 total prize purse. NTIA has awarded $3,000,000, the largest of the 2023 5G Challenge total prize purse, to the Stage Four: Mobility winning contestant team, Lions-NewEdge-Mavenir-Radisys. Two teams successfully completed Stage Four: the winning team and a second mobility team, Capgemini-JMA Wireless-QCT/Benetel. A tiebreaker determined the mobility prize winner. NTIA/ITS additionally announced the following 2023 5G Challenge prizes winners:

• Wrap-around Emulation Prizes of $100,000 to Capgemini, Fujitsu, GXC, JMA Wireless, Lions, Mavenir, NewEdge, QCT/Benetel and Radisys,
• Multi-Vendor End-To-End (E2E) Integration 1st place prize of $750,000 and additional lab time to Capgemini and QCT/Benetel, 
• Multi-Vendor End-To-End (E2E) Integration 2nd place prize of $250,000 to Radisys and Lions, 
• Two Best in Show SBOM and VEX winners of $100,000 and security testing to Fujitsu and JMA Wireless, and 
• Best in Show Collaborator winner of $20,000 and security testing to Lions. 

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (Bureau) seeks comment on whether Summit Ridge Group, the Reimbursement Clearinghouse (Clearinghouse) selected by a committee of stakeholders in the 3.45-3.55 GHz band (3.45 GHz Band), satisfies the criteria established by the FCC in the 3.45 GHz Second Report and Order and the Bureau in the 3.45 GHz Clearinghouse Selection Process Order. Following the comment period, the Bureau will issue an order announcing whether the selection criteria have been satisfied. Should the Bureau be unable to find that the criteria have been satisfied, the 3.45 GHz Clearinghouse Selection Process Order required that the selection process will start over and the search committee will submit a new proposed entity. [Comments Due: October 10, 2023. Reply Comments Due: October 20, 2023 WT Docket No. 19-348]

The US is making unprecedented investments to ensure that individuals and communities have the capacity to fully participate in our society and economy via access to, and the use of, affordable information and communication technologies, such as wired and wireless broadband, internet-enabled devices, and applications and online content designed to enable and encourage self-sufficiency, participation, and collaboration. There’s an obvious and critical role for researchers to help guide this investment now and evaluate its effectiveness in the years to come. The winners of the Charles Benton Broadband & Society Prize are Natassia Bravo and Mildred Warner, both of Cornell University. They examined the question of what lessons could be learned from earlier state broadband funding approaches in relation to Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds in their State Grant Programs for Broadband: Implications for Federal Policy Design. They explored how state broadband grants were awarded in the period from 2014 to 2020 in areas likely to have lower broadband availability and adoption—often rural, low-density, and high-poverty communities. Their research provides key insights into the various funding approaches taken by states to close the broadband infrastructure gap before the pandemic and highlights important lessons for how BEAD funds may be structured. Their analysis also addresses broader implications for digital equity, raising questions about the role of states in expanding coverage and addressing the needs of rural, aging, and minority individuals, three of the eight “covered populations” that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) identifies as disproportionately experiencing digital inequity and which are to be the focus of efforts supported through grants and planning processes. They also identify the importance of state policy in supporting communities with limited capacity and supporting market expansion.

[Adrianne B. Furniss is the Executive Director of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.]