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Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a Request for Comments (RFC) seeking public input on the development of a comprehensive, long-term National Spectrum Strategy.

Today, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator David Redl issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announcement of a $600 million loan and grant program to assist with building rural broadband infrastructure:

Remarks of Diane Rinaldo
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
OECD Global Forum on Digital Security for Prosperity
Paris, France
December 13, 2018

-- As Prepared for Delivery --

It’s a pleasure to be here at this inaugural Global Forum on Digital Security for Prosperity.

Since taking office, the Trump Administration has made it clear that America will lead the world in building secure 5G commercial wireless services, said David Redl, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information. In an interview with wireless consultant Christopher Guttmann-McCabe at a PLI/FCBA conference, Redl talked about NTIA’s recent efforts and future plans to deliver on the administration’s priorities in the new year.

Engineers at NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) have completed performance certification lab testing of Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) equipment – the sensors that will help enable dynamic sharing in the 3.5 GHz band between U.S. Navy radars and Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) devices.

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross conducted the official swearing-in of seven new or re-appointed members to serve on the Board of the FirstNet Responder Network Authority. The Board oversees the activities of FirstNet to ensure that its public-private partnership with AT&T continues to successfully develop, build, and operate a nationwide broadband network that will equip first responders to save lives and protect U.S. communities.

As a critical step in delivering on President Trump’s call for development of a national spectrum strategy, NTIA has asked federal agencies to report their future spectrum needs over the next 15 years. The reports will help ensure the federal government is optimizing utilization of the nation’s spectrum resources and meeting the needs of spectrum users, including critical federal missions that serve the American public. Agencies must submit their initial reports by Feb. 21, 2019 and provide final reports by April 23, 2019.

Botnets and automated, distributed attacks threaten our nation’s Internet infrastructure. Solving this and other cybersecurity challenges is a top priority for the Trump Administration.

Behind every initiative to share spectrum are models of how radio waves in a particular band travel, or propagate, through different environments. How far will a signal travel before it becomes too faint to be useful or to interfere with another signal? What happens when a signal encounters a tree, or a hill, or a house? If we can accurately model how radio waves will behave, it can dramatically increase the odds that sharing mechanisms will work.

Exemplifying the power of partnerships, NTIA recently teamed up with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Johnson C. Smith University to convene a broadband summit for HBCUs in North and South Carolina. On Nov.

Today, NTIA released comments it received in response to a September 25, 2018, request for comment on a high-level framework for protecting consumer data privacy. We received over 200 comments from individuals, industry associations, companies, civil society, and academics.

As public safety agencies around the country take advantage of FirstNet, the first nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN), NTIA is marking the end of a grant program that helped lay the groundwork for FirstNet’s success.

In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) to accommodate sharing in the 3.5 GHz band between incumbent users — mostly Navy radar systems — and a variety of new commercial users.

NTIA and Verisign have agreed to extend and modify the Cooperative Agreement. These modifications are in line with policy priorities of the Trump Administration. The changes create a new commitment to content neutrality in the Domain Name System (DNS), provide market-based pricing flexibility, and reduce the regulatory burden on Verisign.

Statement of Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator David Redl on the election of Doreen Bogdan-Martin as Director of the ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau:

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the appointment of six leaders in public safety, technology and network financing to serve on the Board of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet).

Protecting intellectual property rights is a critical government responsibility that helps grow our economy. It is equally as important to ensure that measures intended to protect these rights aren’t misused to stifle innovation or the free flow of information.

The demand for more spectrum capacity is intense, and its wise allocation is a top priority as our nation builds out fifth generation (5G) wireless networks. By 2021, Cisco projects that global mobile data traffic will increase sevenfold, with 5G generating 4.7 times more traffic than 4G.

5G promises new capabilities and possibilities for our Nation’s innovators. Americans, ever the pioneers, are pushing forth a renaissance in space exploration and development, with our commercial satellite industry continuing to flourish and creating thousands of new jobs.

Remarks of David J. Redl
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
ICANN 63 -- The Internet Technological Evolution and the Role and Impact of ICANN
Barcelona, Spain
October 22, 2018

--As Prepared for Delivery--

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will convene its quadrennial treaty-making conference in Dubai later this month. The ITU is a United Nations agency representing 193 countries that allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, manages international standards for telecommunications networks and technology, and works to improve access to these technologies in the areas of the world that do not have it.

This week, NTIA recognizes International Digital Inclusion Week.

Remarks of David J. Redl
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
Forum Europe: Artificial Intelligence 2018
Brussels, Belgium
October 18, 2018

--As Prepared for Delivery--

Thank you. It’s great to be here in Brussels to discuss the exciting promise of artificial intelligence and how the U.S. government is preparing for the future of AI.

On Oct. 12, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information David Redl participated in a fireside chat with Brookings Institution fellow, Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee, to discuss the work that NTIA has been doing on privacy, the Internet, and nationwide broadband connectivity.

Remarks of David J. Redl
Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information
The 6th Annual Internet of Things Global Summit
Washington, D.C.
October 5, 2018

-- As Prepared for Delivery --

Thank you and good morning.