How Will NTIA Distribute Broadband Deployment Money?

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

Newly installed Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Alan Davidson, was cool, calm and collected as he answered lawmakers’ multiple questions yesterday about the much-anticipated distribution of broadband infrastructure deployment grants. NTIA is the point agency for the fund distribution, working with states, localities, Tribes and other groups, as instructed in the Infrastructure Law. During a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing yesterday, several lawmakers expressed concern about connecting every American. Committee Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) said the law’s $65 billion investment is also “critical” to ensuring America can compete on the world stage, pointing to the “enormous investment” China has made in laying fiber, “putting it on track to connect more than a billion people to broadband.” Several lawmakers, including Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), noted that the last major investment in broadband was 2009, when Congress passed the American Recovery and Investment Act. “NTIA received $4.7 billion, much of which was wasted on overbuilding and failed projects. We cannot afford to let this happen again,” she said. Continue Reading