News and Publications

WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) this month kicked off the Tribal Broadband Leaders Network, a community of practitioners who are dedicated to expanding connectivity on Tribal lands. More than 130 participants representing more than 70 Tribes attended the first network meeting on Oct. 13. The Tribal Broadband Leaders Network was first announced by Secretary Raimondo on Sept. 20 at the National Tribal Broadband Summit, hosted by the Department of the Interior.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released a new Workforce Planning Guide for states and territories to use when planning high-speed Internet deployment projects. The high-speed Internet deployment and digital equity projects funded through the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative will create over 150,000 of good-paying jobs.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Ohio received its first planning grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative. Ohio is receiving $6,470,550.76 in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed by President Biden, to plan for the deployment and adoption of affordable, equitable, and reliable high-speed Internet throughout the state.

With Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, $600+ Million Awarded to 23 Tribal Entities in Latest Round of “Internet for All” Grants 

The Internet is an essential communications tool that enables access to work, education, healthcare, and justice. Once a luxury, access to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet is now a necessity.    

Despite its importance, millions of people in America cannot afford Internet service. Millions have no Internet access at all. And many who do, still face slow connection speeds and inadequate service.

WASHINGTON – Today, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD), announced three winners from stage three of the 2022 5G Challenge. Capgemini Engineering, Radisys Corporation, and Mavenir Systems, Inc., each received $250,000 for successfully developing a fully integrated multivendor end-to-end 5G network. 

WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today it has awarded five grants as part of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC). These grants, totaling $10,642,577.03, will expand community technology hubs, upgrade classroom technology, and increase digital literacy skills at five minority-serving institutions in California, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and the Marshall Islands.

Internet access means access to education, healthcare, jobs, and entertainment. It’s essential to full participation in our modern economy. Still, NTIA data show that about one in five U.S. households are not connected to the Internet at home.

President Biden’s Internet for All initiative is working to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet. With NTIA spearheading the initiative, we know it’s important to make data-driven solutions and assess who is not online and what barriers are keeping them unconnected.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today preliminary data that shows over 235 applications were submitted totaling more than $5.5 billion in funding requests for the Enabling Middle Mile Infrastructure Grant Program, part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to investing in affordable high-speed Internet for all.  

In response to the election of Doreen Bogdan-Martin as Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) at the 2022 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Bucharest, Romania, the following statement can be attributed to Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator:

The September 30, 2022, application deadline for the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program is just days away. Our aim is to help applicants submit complete, informed, and high-quality applications. This post focuses on the Budget Information section.

So here’s how to Be Complete and Score Big!

Budget Information

Who Are Middle Mile Providers?

Middle mile service may be offered by a wide range of entities, from traditional retail Internet Service Providers, large technology companies that do not offer retail Internet service at all, or electric utilities that increasingly recognize their capability to transform the communications market. Regardless of who deploys and operates them, middle mile connections are crucial to connectivity and competition.

Why Middle Mile Matters

Middle mile infrastructure bridges the gap between where information is stored and the people interacting with it – it's an essential part of reliable, high-speed Internet access. Because of the nation’s middle mile networks, anyone in America can transfer data across the world, enabling community, competition, learning, and well-being.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today that it has awarded a $29.3 million Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to the Native Village of Port Lions as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Communications Supply Chain Risk Information Partnership (C-SCRIP) held its first webinar for stakeholders on Monday, August 8. This program featured discussions on: 

Access to the Internet plays a critical role, serving as a catalyst for work, education, essential services, and more as part of routines in everyday life. But, even today, for many Americans, access to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet is still out of reach. 

The recent update of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and NTIA memorializes a shared commitment between the two agencies to renew a partnership critical to jointly managing the nation’s spectrum resources.   

Following the release of the Section 1663 Report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) committee, NTIA issued the following statement: