May 2018

As we work to cement our vision of the Internet around the world, we’re also focused on getting everyone in the United States connected. A key part of the administration’s strategy for expanding broadband deployment is removing barriers that slow or block new projects. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is working to improve federal coordination around this goal through an interagency working group that we co-chair alongside the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service. Our group is focusing on three areas. The first is federal permitting.

The Federal Communications Commission’s submission provides a spending level of $333,118,000, derived from regulatory fees for regular FCC operations, and an auction spending cap of $112,734,000.

The House Appropriations Committee quietly rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to help restore the US operations of the controversial Chinese tech megafirm, ZTE. Lawmakers from both parties unanimously agreed to include in an appropriations bill a provision that would uphold sanctions against the Chinese phone-maker, just days after President Donald Trump revealed in a tweet that he has directed his administration to help put the company “back in business.” The language was added to a relatively uncontroversial House spending bill, which funds the Commerce Department, among other ag