National Telecommunications and Information Administration

With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Congress has taken a significant step forward in achieving the Biden Administration’s goal of providing broadband access to the entire country.

The US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded the first three grants as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. These initial awards, totaling nearly $1.4 million, are being made to the Taos Pueblo (NM), the Upper Mattaponi Tribe (VA), and the Sokaogon Chippewa Community (WI). Two of the grants will support the provision of broadband services, computers, and digital skills training to tribal members and one will fund a tribal broadband planning project.

Earlier in 2021, NTIA issued a 5G Challenge Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on behalf of the Department of Defense, requesting information on how to use Prize Challenges to accelerate the development of the open 5G ecosystem and support Department of Defense missions.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published the proposed service areas of all applications undergoing review for funding through the Broadband Infrastructure Program. Broadband service providers will have 15 days to submit information about the broadband services they offer in any of the proposed service areas. The announcement of proposed service areas will assist the NTIA in targeting federal funds appropriately to areas lacking qualifying broadband service.

Section 9203 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA 21) calls for the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to submit a report to Congress containing a plan for the modernization and automation of the NTIA infrastructure relating to managing federal spectrum use by covered agencies, to more efficiently manage such use. This provides the modernization plan and addresses the topics called out in the NDAA 21.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it has received more than 280 applications for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, for a total of over $5 billion in funding requests. The volume of requests demonstrates the significant need to expand access to and adoption of broadband service on Tribal lands.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration commented in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addressing federal earth stations, launch spectrum, and operation of a new federal environmental sensing satellite. These issues are connected by the principle that the responsibilities of the FCC and NTIA to manage our respective spheres of spectrum use require continued adjustment to reflect the realities of their interdependence. Here, it means: