No images? Click here Senate Commerce Committee Advances NATE-Endorsed 6G Legislation NATE endorsed the bipartisan Next Generation Telecommunications Act which would establish a bipartisan, multi-agency, private sector telecommunications council to advise Congress on 6G advancements and other advanced wireless communications technologies. The council would develop a national telecommunications strategy, ensure the U.S. is leading the way with broadband expansion, improve the telecommunications workforce, and ensure that telecommunications networks and supply chains are resilient and secure. Read NATE’s press release here. House Energy and Committee Roundup On March 16, the House Energy and Commerce Committee Communications and Technology Subcommittee held a hearing entitled, “5G and Beyond: Exploring the Next Wireless Frontier.” The major takeaway from the hearing is that there is a bipartisan call for a national spectrum strategy and for federal agencies and industry to ensure that spectrum is used efficiently. One highlight was that the Ranking Republican, Cathy McMorris Rodgers highlighted her 2021 tower climb with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. She also spoke strongly in favor of ensuring fixed wireless is part of our national strategy to close the digital divide. On March 21, the seventeen Democratic members of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Communications and Technology Subcommittee wrote to Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), today outlining their recommendations and priorities as the agency implements the broadband programs in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. NATE is concerned that this letter highlights one particular technology – fiber – and does not mention fixed wireless. For many years, NATE’s friends on the Subcommittee have supported calls to ensure that broadband plans were technology neutral. NATE will continue to work in a bipartisan manner to promote fixed wireless infrastructure. On March 31, the Communications and Technology Subcommittee will hold a hearing on oversight of the FCC. An oversight hearing is a chance for Congress to call federal agencies before congressional committees and ask questions about how the current administration is implementing policy and using taxpayer money. This will be the first time in nearly two years that all FCC Commissioners will appear before Congress. This will be an important hearing for NATE members to watch, and we hope Commissioner Carr continues to emphasize the important role that tower technicians play in deploying broadband to rural, unserved, and underserved communities. NTIA Awards $277 million in Grants to Expand Broadband Infrastructure NTIA announced that it has awarded 13 grants as part of the Broadband Infrastructure Program. These grants, totaling more than $277 million, will be used to connect more than 133,000 unserved households. These grants are not part of the IIJA federal infrastructure package. Rather, they were funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 that provided funding for broadband programs. The grants were awarded to 12 states and one territory: Georgia, Guam, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia. Read more about NTIA’s grant announcement, including the recipients, here. OSHA Safe + Sound Week – August 15-21 From OSHA: Mark your calendars! Safe + Sound Week will take place from August 15-21, 2022. Safe + Sound Week is a nationwide event held each August that recognizes the successes of workplace health and safety programs and offers information and ideas on how to keep America's workers safe. Registration for Safe + Sound Week opens in early July. The Save the Date is available to download in both English and Spanish. We look forward to your participation! Drones: Beyond Visual Line of Sight Update NATE and our partners at the Commercial Drone Alliance (CDA) welcomed news from the Federal Aviation Administration Beyond Visual Line of Sight Aviation Rulemaking Committee for moving forward with a report that incorporates feedback from commercial drone interests. “This report outlines a common-sense approach to improve the overall safety of the skies and enable American communities to realize the health, safety, convenience, and economic benefits of 21st Century aviation technology," said Lisa Ellman, Executive Director of the CDA. Read more from the Commercial Drone Alliance here. Biden FCC Nominee Still Facing Challenge to Confirmation It is reported that the Senate is still not scheduling votes to advance Ms. Gigi Sohn’s nomination to serve as the fifth FCC Commissioner. In a 50-50 split Senate, every Democrat has to be in D.C. and ready to support Ms. Sohn’s nomination, but Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said, “We’re missing a few people.” A handful of Senate Democrats are not currently working in D.C. for various reasons, which means that there are not enough votes for Ms. Sohn. Check out previous weeks’ updates for additional information on Ms. Sohn’s nomination. Of Interest: Report from Utah State University on Broadband Spending Much of this information NATE has already reported on, but the report calls for competitive bidding for broadband projects and addresses some other policy issues. It also has a small table that shows where the hundreds of billions of dollars in broadband funding are coming from: the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 202, the American Rescue Plan, and the federal infrastructure bill. From the author, “State governments are preparing to solicit grants, review applications, score proposals, distribute funds, and ultimately, evaluate outcomes from projects funded by the billions of dollars in recent broadband infrastructure bills. How will state officials spend these funds? Will they have better or worse outcomes than broadband infrastructure grant programs in the past?” ICYMI: NTIA to Host Public Meetings on Broadband Funding The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will host a webinar series in March-May 2022 in connection with the five new broadband grant programs authorized and funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA): The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program; the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program; and the Digital Equity Act Programs, which include the State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program, State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, and Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program. These pre-NOFO technical assistance webinars are designed to help prospective applicants understand NTIA’s IIJA broadband grant programs and to assist applicants to prepare high-quality grant applications. We do not believe that much of the funding in these programs will go directly to NATE members. However, NATE urges contractors to participate in these webinars because they might give you some ideas on where the money will go so you can, hopefully, land some work. Visit https://broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov/events/latest-events to see the schedule of events and add them to your calendar. |