Newsroom

WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded nearly $80 million in the third round of grants from the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund’s first Notice of Funding Opportunity. This round includes the first awards in the Testing & Evaluation (T&E) category, designed to expand industry-accepted T&E activities, making testing more accessible to the entire wireless ecosystem.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will host a public listening session January 18 to learn about current and future industry efforts to promote the health, safety and privacy of young people online. 

WASHINGTON –The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a Federal Register Notice to seek expressions of interest from individuals who would like to serve on the Board of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority Board or Board). The Board works closely with the FirstNet Authority management and is responsible for providing overall policy direction and strategic guidance.

Louisiana Becomes the First State Authorized to Request Access to BEAD Funds 

WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Louisiana’s Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative.

On November 15th, 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. Better known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the statute designated $65billion to improve high-speed Internet access for people across America. 

WASHINGTON – Today the Biden-Harris Administration released a National Spectrum Strategy identifying more than 2,700 megahertz of airwaves to study for innovative new uses by both the private sector and federal agencies. President Biden also released the Presidential Memorandum on Modernizing United States Spectrum Policy and Establishing a National Spectrum Strategy, which will promote a trustworthy, predictable and evidenced-based process for ensuring spectrum serves its highest and best use.

WASHINGTON – Today, the Federal Communications Commission approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to reinstate open Internet protections. The following statement can be attributed to Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator:

By Margaret Harding McGill, NTIA

Dalia Calderon was ready to quit college, for the second time. She had returned to Mercy University after a 20-year break, but the combination of online classes and an ancient laptop was proving to be too much to bear. 

“I said, ‘I don’t know how I can finish school. I'm just going to drop out - I’m already old,’” said Calderon, 47, who lives in the Bronx. “That’s when I got an email that said they were loaning laptops. I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’”

At the National Telecommunications and Information Administration we are working to foster the development of an open 5G wireless ecosystem to help the private sector bring new life and innovation to a marketplace held back by few vendors and little competition.