Industry associations are praising NTIA’s waivers for its “Buy America” requirements for the BEAD infrastructure deployment grants/loans. NTIA released limited waivers from “Buy America” requirements under the $42.5 billion BEAD program to make sure that enough advanced components can flow to projects around the country.
“The majority of fiber broadband equipment—including optical fiber, fiber optic cable, key electronics, and enclosures—necessary to bring affordable and reliable high-speed internet service to everyone in America will be made here in the United States,” says NTIA Senior Policy Advisor in a blog post. The waiver, a year in the making, “takes into account comments received during the public comment period for the proposed draft waiver and provides specificity and certainty on how the Buy America preference applies to optical fiber, fiber optic cable, electronics, enclosures, and other products that will be used to build broadband networks.”
USTelecom President/CEO Jonathan Spalter called NTIA’s decision a “smart move” that balances “the need for providers to purchase the network components required for BEAD deployments on time while American manufacturing ramps up. We must keep moving forward with both goals—achieving universal connectivity and accelerating American manufacturing—on parallel tracks.”
Fiber Broadband Association President/CEO Gary Bolton said the BEAD program could bring fiber connectivity to most unserved Americans. “The waiver will enhance domestic production of the products needed for that infrastructure allowing funding recipients to continue to provide economic opportunity, including job creation, through innovation and timely deployment of broadband infrastructure,” stated Bolton.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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