OTI Issues Recommendations on NTIA’s Broadband Infrastructure Funding
Press Release
Feb. 4, 2022
On Friday, OTI filed comments to guide the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in successfully disbursing funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). In the comments, OTI urged NTIA to ensure its administration of the program results in the equitable deployment of broadband and improved access to affordable, quality broadband service. The IIJA, signed into law by President Biden last year after Congress passed the legislation with bipartisan support, tasks NTIA with disbursing more than $48 billion in broadband funding. The bulk of the money is dedicated for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Earlier this month, the Senate confirmed former OTI director Alan Davidson as administrator of NTIA, which gave the agency its first Senate-confirmed leader in nearly three years.
OTI’s comments argued that NTIA should promulgate rules that ensure that BEAD-supported networks are:
- Affordable
- Competitive
- Transparent
- Rigorously evaluated
- Community driven
The following can be attributed to Claire Park, policy analyst at New America’s Open Technology Institute:
“The IIJA-mandated infrastructure package is a historic investment in improving access to affordable, quality broadband service. To ensure this unprecedented down payment on the future of connectivity in this country truly serves those most in need, effective rules and guidelines must be put in place. Such rules will have to address the many serious issues within today’s broadband marketplace, such as the high cost of service and a lack of competition, transparency, and accountability from providers. The sustainability and success of networks funded by this investment are also dependent on direct community and local feedback that NTIA can and should address.
“We look forward to working with NTIA to ensure that people, not companies, are the focus of these much-needed funds.”