December 16, 2022

NATE Meets with Key Lawmakers on Capitol Hill

This week, NATE Chairman Jimmy Miller and a small delegation of members made the case for the broadband workforce on Capitol Hill. The Association met with, among others, the offices of Senate Commerce Committee members Sen.’s Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). NATE would like to thank the offices in both the House and Senate for their time. 

Thune Discusses Broadband Oversight

On Tuesday, December 13, Sen. John Thune (R-SD), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband helped lead a hearing on solutions to meet the nation’s broadband needs. During the hearing, Thune discussed his broadband oversight effort aimed at holding agencies accountable and ensuring that previously authorized broadband funding is being used in the most efficient way possible to protect taxpayer dollars. You can read more about Thune’s oversight effort here.

NTIA “Concerned” About Agency Use of 12.7 GHz Band

On Wednesday, December 14, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) posted a filing to its website indicating that several agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), are already active on and around the 12.7 GHz spectrum band. In October, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously voted to consider allowing telecom companies to use the same spectrum band. In the filing, the NTIA said it was “concerned” and warned the FCC that 5G use could disturb government activity in the wireless vicinity. You can read the filing here.

Stopgap Funding Bill Extends FCC Spectrum Auction Authority

On Wednesday, December 14, the House passed a stopgap funding bill in order to keep the government funded until December 23. The bill includes an extension of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority, which lapses on Friday, December 16. You can read the bill here.