National Telecommunications and Information Administration

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:

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) established the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (OICG) and the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives (OMBI). The changes to NTIA’s organizational structure were adopted on August 13, 2021, in a new Department Organization Order (DOO), which replaced a previous DOO dated September 2012.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has received more than 230 applications for the Broadband Infrastructure Program, for a total of more than $2.5 billion in funding requests across 49 states and US territories. NTIA has begun reviewing the applications as part of the $288 million grant program, which was funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. Grants will be awarded to covered partnerships between a state, or political subdivisions of a state, and providers of fixed broadband service.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released a summary of conclusions from its two 5G industry listening sessions, conducted to identify incentives and policy options to ensure the US has adequate sources of secure, effective, and reliable 5th and future generation wireless communications systems and infrastructure. Top conclusions from major areas of discussion are: