News and Publications

WASHINGTON – Following on NTIA's January 2013 report evaluating the potential use of up to 195 megahertz of additional spectrum in the 5 GHz band by unlicensed devices, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today proposed making the spectrum in the 5350-5470 MHz and 5850-5925 MHz bands available for such use. 

WASHINGTON – The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) today announced the structure and membership of FirstNet’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC), which will be comprised of 40 representatives of public safety organizations.

To understand how rural South Dakota is, consider this: The state ranks 17th in the nation in terms of geographic size, but 46th in population - with fewer than 820,000 people, according to the 2010 Census. In some parts of South Dakota, the distance between farmsteads can be six miles. Cattle outnumber people four to one.

For telecommunications companies, the state’s sparse population means that there are not enough customers in many places to enable them to recoup costly investments in advanced telecommunications networks needed to deliver high-speed Internet service.

“NTIA thanks the Board for conducting this review expeditiously.  NTIA is pleased that today’s resolution charts a path to allow the resumption of these projects in accordance with the two conditions set out when we partially suspended the projects last year: 

• The grant money will remain in the communities that received the grant.

• The grant dollars will be spent on facilities and equipment that can be incorporated into FirstNet’s nationwide network , or that will yield valuable data and information to guide FirstNet.”

“The FirstNet Board has been hard at work now for five months, laying the groundwork for what will be one of the largest telecommunications networks ever built.  We understand the enormity of our task at hand, and the urgency to get it done as expeditiously as possible.  But we want to get it right.

“The FirstNet Board has taken a big step forward with the BTOP public safety projects.  Using the information we obtained from our site visits and other work with the projects’ leaders and vendors, we have determined that each of these seven grantees could provide substantial benefits to FirstNet’s nationwide deployment efforts and generate valuable lessons learned on the challenges we face.  

“The FirstNet Board understands that this network cannot be built without the critical input of the public safety community and states, tribes and regional groups. As a representative of that community, I’m committed to ensuring that these voices are heard as FirstNet develops plans for this nationwide public safety network. We’ve already begun our outreach to these stakeholders, but we’re just getting started. Please be patient because there’s much more to come.

BOULDER, Colo. – The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board today adopted a resolution outlining its path forward with the seven public safety Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grantees, whose funding was partially suspended following enactment of the law creating FirstNet. 

Keynote Address by Lawrence E. Strickling

Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information

at the

2013 Broadband Summit of the Federal-State Joint Conference

on Advanced Services

“Broadband Adoption and Usage – What Have We Learned?”

Washington, DC

February 7, 2013

Washington — The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announced the availability of $121.5 million in grants to assist states as they prepare for a nationwide public safety broadband network.

Nearly two years ago, NTIA launched the National Broadband Map, and today we are updating it, as we have every six months since its inception.  The map provides the first-ever detailed datasets of broadband availability across the country, and it would not be possible without a unique partnership between the federal government, states, and the voluntary participation of many broadband providers. 

NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) is hard at work in our Boulder, Colorado labs testing next-generation technology that will be used in a new nationwide public safety broadband network to be built by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet).

Public Safety official participates in testing of digital LMR intelligibility.

Washington, DC – National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling today delivered remarks at the Brookings Institution to underscore the importance of NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), which works to expand access to broadband services to communities across the United States.

As 2012 draws to a close, I would like to take a moment to think back on some of the major things we’ve accomplished and then look forward to what we have on our plate for 2013.

Anna M. Gomez
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information
PLI/FCBA Telecommunications Policy & Regulation Institute
Washington, D.C.
December 14, 2012

-As prepared for delivery-

Thank you to the folks at the Practicing Law Institute and FCBA for inviting me to speak to you today.  I particularly want to express my appreciation for all you who have come during the earliest time slot the morning after the Chairman’s dinner!

Remarks by Lawrence E. Strickling
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
PLI/FCBA Telecommunications Policy & Regulation Institute
Washington, DC
December 14, 2012

--As prepared for delivery--

I want to thank the distinguished Deputy Administrator of NTIA, Anna Gomez, for yielding me the remainder of her time.  Rest assured she was under no pressure to do so.

WASHINGTON – The city of Seattle, the University of Washington, Gigabit Squared (a private company), and Gig.U joined together today to announce plans to deploy Gigabit networks and services to 12 Seattle neighborhoods.  The project targets areas surrounding the University of Washington as well as several underserved areas.

WASHINGTON –  Following up on NTIA's recommendation from our 2010 Fast-Track evaluation and last year's spectrum report of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted today in its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposals that would open the doo

NTIA recently released the Third Interim Progress Report on the Obama Administration’s efforts to make available 500 megahertz of spectrum by 2020 for expanded wireless broadband use.

Internet Protocol (IP) numbers underpin and connect broadband and IP-based network infrastructures. Without IP numbers, we could not attach computers and smartphones to the Internet, and we could not route traffic to and from those devices. Without an adequate supply of these numbers, we could not design cloud computing networks or the smart grid. As we move to a world of innovation where virtually everything can be networked to everything else, we need to ensure a sufficient supply of IP numbers.