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June 3, 2022
NATE Members Host FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr for Wireless and Broadband Site Visits
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr participated in several wireless and broadband site visits this week with NATE member companies in South Dakota.
On Wednesday, June 1, Commissioner Carr began his day with member company VIKOR at a tower site in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. During the visit, the “Climbing Commissioner” had the opportunity to experience riding a load line to a designated location on the tower. This industry best practice, commonly referred to as “riding the line”, utilizes a drum hoist acting like an elevator and has been utilized by communications tower contractors and technicians for years as a safe means to ascend the tower, reduce wear and tear on the technician workforce and increase job site efficiency. To view a video of Commissioner Carr “riding the line,” visit VIKOR’s Instagram Page HERE.
While at the tower site, Commissioner Brendan Carr also toured a nearby SDN Communications Data Center and expansion project.
Later in the morning, Commissioner Carr joined Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, members of U.S. Senator John Thune’s staff and representatives from NATE, VIKOR and SDN Communications on a site visit to a 5G small cell site in downtown Sioux Falls. To view a photo of the 5G-Small Cell site visit, click HERE.
In the afternoon, Commissioner Carr spent time in Sioux Falls with NATE member company ANCO Underground and witnessed a fiber to the home installation project taking place in real-time. To view photos of this site visit, go to ANCO Underground’s LinkedIn page HERE.
Tennessee U.S. Senators Blackburn and Hagerty Pen Letter to Department of Commerce Expressing Concern Over Fiber Bias in IIJA’s BEAD Program Notice of Funding Opportunity
Tennessee U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty recently sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson expressing their concern that the preference for fiber builds in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program Notice of Funding Opportunity contradicts what Congress directed in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and will not help to close the digital divide in states like Tennessee.
The BEAD Program will be allocating $42.45 Billion through NTIA to the states to close the digital divide. In the letter, Senators Blackburn and Hagerty advocate a technology-neutral approach to the funding, which aligns with what NATE and other prominent industry Associations like WIA, CCA and WISPA are currently advocating for.
To read the letter by Senators Blackburn and Hagerty, click HERE.
NATE Named an Industry Partner to Ohio’s Broadband and 5G Sector Partnership
Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted, who serves as Director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation (OWT), recently announced that NATE is one of 26 entities that will make up Ohio’s Broadband and 5G Sector Partnership. The Ohio State University (OSU) was awarded $3 million in January to host the Sector Partnership and selected the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) as the industry intermediary to lead the effort. This announcement is part of a larger effort by OWT and Broadband Ohio to grow the workforce needed to expand broadband access and 5G in Ohio.
NATE Board of Directors member Jessica Cobb will represent the Association at the first sector partner meeting with Lt. Governor Husted on June 9 in Columbus, Ohio. To read the official sector partnership press release from the Ohio Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, visit HERE.
ICYMI: House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on “Strengthening our Communications Networks: Legislation to Connect and Protect”
The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology of the Committee on Energy and Commerce held a virtual, fully remote legislative hearing on Tuesday May 24, 2022. The hearing, "Strengthening our Communications Networks: Legislation to Connect and Protect" included a focus on the following legislative bills that NATE is currently tracking in Congress:
H.R. 4275, the "Ensuring Phone and Internet Access for SNAP Recipients Act of 2021"
H.R. 4990, the "Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act" or the "ITS Codification Act"
H.R. 5486, the "Simplifying Management, Reallocation, and Transfer of Spectrum Act" or the "SMART Act"
H.R. 7132, the "Safe Connections Act of 2022"
H.R. 7783, the "Extending America's Spectrum Auction Leadership Act of 2022"
To watch a replay of the hearing, visit HERE.
FCC Announces Agenda for June 8, 2022, Open Meeting
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Wednesday, June 8 at 10:30 AM EDT. This meeting will be open to the public on the Internet via live feed from the FCC’s web page at www.fcc.gov/live and on the FCC’s YouTube channel. To access PDF and word versions of the June FCC Open Meeting Agenda, visit HERE.
