Policymakers

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives (OMBI) has released its Annual Report for 2023.

In May the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) celebrated Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month with the theme “Bridging Histories, Shaping Our Future.” We close out this month by chatting with Angela Thi Bennett, NTIA’s first-ever Director of Digital Equity. "NTIA's work is crucial in addressing the digital divide, which disproportionately affects certain populations, including Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

When Aaron Wheeler, Washington state broadband office director joined the office, he inherited a process and plans put in place by retiring broadband director Mark Vasconi, and he’s not about to slow the state’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) process down. While some states are more deliberate and trying to slow down the process of Volume 2 approval to delay the 365-day “shot clock” kicking in, Wheeler explain

Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Nathan Simington announced one departure from his office, one new addition and one promotion. Marco Peraza, Commissioner Simington’s Wireline Advisor, departed the agency in early May 2024. Sara Rahmjoo joins the Office of Commissioner Simington as Policy Advisor and Confidential Assistant.

Evan Feinman, director for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, provided an update on the program. All states have submitted their Volume 1 proposals to NTIA, and Feinman said that nearly all Volume 1 proposals are approved. A check of NTIA’s Progress Dashboard today shows that only Florida, Maryland and Minnesota have yet to have their Volume 1s approved.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel established the Spectrum Steering Team, which will lead the FCC’s efforts to develop and implement forward-looking spectrum policies and execute the National Spectrum Strategy.  The Spectrum Steering Team brings together policy experts, economists, and engineers from across the FCC—including the Office of Economics and Analytics, Office of Engineering and Technology, Space Bureau, and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau—to drive spectrum policy and planning efforts that will ensure U.S.

Eric Frederick, the Chief Connectivity Officer for the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office, is supremely confident. “I do believe it’s going to be enough,” he said when asked whether the $1.5 billion in Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding allotted to the state will be enough to get broadband to everyone. The healthy allocation leads Frederick to exclaim rather confidently that Michigan’s unserved and underserved will be largely connected with fiber.

Broadband champions can be the decisive factors in efforts to improve community connectivity. The work of broadband champions has been shaped by the particularities of their broadband contexts: the local political will, the existing providers, the topography, and the wide-ranging motivations and strategies. What they have in common is their dedication, which has proved to be crucial in helping their communities get high-speed broadband.

Devon Braunstein is taking the helm as Deputy Director of the Illinois Office of Broadband at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Matt Schmit is poised to join the Illinois Broadband Lab at the University of Illinois System as Senior Director for Broadband.

Congress included the ACCESS BROADBAND Act in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and established the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (OICG) within the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). On April 30, OICG released its annual report detailing the office's work for 2023. OICG administers broadband programs created by both the Consolidated Appropriations Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Four interconnected core pillars drive OICG’s initiatives, strategy, and key accomplishments: