October 21, 2022

NATE Hosts D.C. Premiere of Vertical Freedom

On Wednesday, October 19, NATE hosted the D.C. premiere of its movie Vertical Freedom, which highlighted the courage and endurance of the broadband workforce. Just prior to the screening, NATE also hosted an industry panel on workforce development. NATE would like to thank all the panel participants, those who made the making of Vertical Freedom possible, and the attendees. A special thank you to the great staff at the AT&T Forum for Technology, Entertainment & Policy for their hospitality.

NTIA Releases Workforce Planning Guide for Broadband Deployment

On Wednesday, October 19, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released a new “workforce planning guide” for states and territories to use in their implementation of Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program funds. The Commerce Department estimates that the deployment of broadband projects will create more than 150,000 new jobs in the coming months and years. You can read more about the workforce planning guide here.

Georgetown Hosts Inaugural Spectrum Summit

On Wednesday, October 19, the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy hosted its first spectrum summit, which notably featured Senior Spectrum Advisor at NTIA Scott Blake Harris. The summit convened experts on spectrum, who delved into topics such as current spectrum allocations for 5G, current demand projects for high speed, mobile broadband, and spectrum innovation. You can read more about the summit here.

Wireless Competition Bureau Provides Guidance for Pilot Programs

On Tuesday, October 18, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-KY) and Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) sent letters to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel requesting briefings on what efforts are currently underway to remove Huawei technology and threats to cybersecurity. Congress has approved nearly $2 billion to carry out the "rip and replace" program, which offsets the cost of removing and replacing prohibited equipment and services from small communications provider networks. You can read more about the letters here.