Building Infrastructure for a Better-Connected World

Mobile World Congress 2024
Remarks of Alan Davidson
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Las Vegas, NV
October 8, 2024
As prepared for delivery

Thank you, Umair, for that introduction. And thank you to CTIA and its leadership, Meredith Baker and Tom Power, for your partnership.

And thank you all for being here.

NTIA's mission is to build a better-connected world. That work includes:

• Ensuring sufficient spectrum resources for both commercial and federal use;
• Fostering a secure and resilient supply chain for 5G and future technologies;
• And connecting everyone in America to reliable, affordable high-speed Internet service.

All three of these objectives speak to the importance of investing in our digital infrastructure- a top priority of the Biden-Harris Administration.

One need only look at the headlines to remember why this is so important. The tragedy unfolding for communities in the southeast hit hard by Hurricane Helene reminds us all just how vital wireless and digital communications are, keeping us connected on good days and bad days.

Today, I'd like to update you on our work in these three areas.

First, a few words about spectrum.

Eleven months ago, the White House released the National Spectrum Strategy. Before I update you on our progress, it's important to remember how we got here in the first place.

When I took office nearly 3 years ago, the United States had no articulated National Spectrum Strategy. Collaboration between federal agencies on spectrum was fraught. NTIA's Memorandum of Understanding with the FCC had not been updated in decades. We were just completing a bruising process working through the hard issues around 5G and radio altimeters.

As I talked to stakeholders, I heard two consistent themes:

• First, we needed a return to regular order in our processes; and
• Second, we needed an evidence-based approach-grounded in science, not guesswork or politics-to address future spectrum needs.

That is what we have done.

We started by updating NTIA's MOU with the FCC and creating a strong culture of collaboration.

We built stronger processes and better working relationships among agencies to solve the many issues that come up in the regular course of managing federal spectrum.

And this Administration delivered a Presidential Memorandum on Spectrum, and a National Spectrum Strategy, to further spectrum science and evidence-based decisions, to better meet our future spectrum demands.

This is the hard work of spectrum policy today. This is the careful work needed to manage a multi-trillion dollar portfolio of private and public spectrum assets.

Our work has also been guided by the desire - expressed by many - to ensure a pipeline of spectrum to meet the needs of the private sector, now and in the future. It is a need that this Administration takes seriously.

But as you all know, there are no more easy frequency bands for repurposing. The low-hanging fruit is gone.

Any federal spectrum leader who tells you that there is a magical solution to make large swaths of spectrum available for auction tomorrow is just wrong. And they probably know it.

If there were a mythical band of desirable and unused spectrum ready to repurpose, we would have done it by now.

Instead, we have rolled up our sleeves and are developing solutions. Some of the bands we are studying today are ones that for years no one wanted to touch. They were "too hard" to make viable for sharing or repurposing.

For the first time, the United States has a strategy that takes on these hard problems.

So, how are we doing?

• We are on track for delivering on the first pillar of the Strategy-which identified a spectrum pipeline of more than 2,700 MHz to study.
• You can expect to see the results of the 37 GHz study before the end of this year.
• On the lower 3GHz and 7-8 GHz studies, federal agencies are already working furiously to deliver.
• We held our inaugural stakeholder meeting in August and will convene again on October 28th-we hope to see you all.
• We are already looking at models and testing scenarios.
• Agencies are doing the hard work to build out technical plans and line up funding for studies - work that is not visible to the public but is no less intense.

I could say a lot about work on our other pillars, but let me mention some highlights.

The third pillar promotes research and development of new technologies to enhance spectrum access. And the White House soon will release a big deliverable: the National Spectrum R&D Plan.

The R&D Plan identifies the top research priorities for innovation in both fundamental and use-inspired research, and research accelerators to get the work done.

Hats off to the White House OSTP and our Office of Spectrum Management. They have been working closely with stakeholders to get this project over the goal line less than a year after release of the Strategy.

Another big R&D focus: DOD is working on a project to demonstrate potential Dynamic Spectrum Sharing. DSS solutions could enable sharing in the Lower 3 GHz band and beyond. Of course, the Lower 3 study also will consider other opportunities for private-sector access, including relocation and repacking.

If we really believe in evidence-based processes, this Strategy is what it looks like.

This is the hard work needed to ensure that American industry and the American people have the spectrum they need to continue to be a world leader in wireless technology.

We've developed this Strategy with your help. Thank you for continuing to partner with us as we implement it.

Another area where many of you have served as key collaborators is in our work to foster a more resilient wireless supply chain.

This work is critical. We are in the midst of a global battle over the future of wireless networks.

5G is a dynamic technology. But today's market for wireless equipment is static and highly consolidated. Just a few firms today provide the full set of radios and supporting components that power mobile networks. And some of those equipment vendors pose national security risks to the U.S. and to our allies around the world.

To address these issues, NTIA has been a champion for more trusted networks - and for industry's development of Open RAN. Open RAN allows for flexibility across networks, promotes competition in the vendor ecosystem, and helps drive down costs.

It starts with our $1.5 billion Wireless Innovation Fund. NTIA has awarded $140 million to 17 projects to support Open RAN development. These projects are well under way.

• Last month, Echostar opened its ORCID laboratory in Cheyenne, WY that will support both lab and field-testing activities.
• And just yesterday, Viavi Solutions celebrated the opening of its VALOR testing facility in Chandler, AZ. VALOR will focus on interoperability, performance, and security.

We expect to make awards from our second funding notice later this fall. These will be the first awards aimed at supporting commercialization activities.

And we are excited to release our third funding notice for this program in early 2025, so stay tuned for more.

Open RAN isn't just an American priority; it's a global movement.

Last month, our Institute for Telecommunication Sciences and Office of International Affairs, in partnership with the State Department, held the inaugural International Open RAN Symposium in Boulder, CO. The Symposium attracted a range of international stakeholders from 21 countries to foster collaboration in Open RAN testing.

NTIA and State are committed to continuing these annual Symposia, which we expect will grow in size as more like-minded nations pledge to join this movement.

We've talked about spectrum-the vital infrastructure we can't see. The supply chain for wireless equipment is infrastructure most Americans don't think about. But a home Internet connection is the infrastructure many of us take for granted.

And yet today, here in America, in 2024, millions of people across the country still lack access to a high-speed Internet connection or lack the means and the skills to use it.

We have been talking about the digital divide in this country for over 25 years. But thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we finally have the resources to do something serious about it.

The President and Vice President have given us a simple but ambitious mission: connect everyone in America with reliable, affordable, high speed Internet service. And today we are well on our way.

The Internet for All initiative is historic. As such, we would be remiss if we failed to learn lessons from the recent history of other federal broadband programs.

Top of mind are the failings of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, or RDOF. As I travel the country, one of the biggest concerns I hear is how defaults from this program are having downstream impacts on state rollouts of their broadband programs - and on people's lives.

Let's recall the story.

In 2020, the FCC rushed to begin the RDOF auction during 2020 election season. Leadership chose to move forward without accurate maps to guide the funding. They did not properly vet providers to ensure they could actually build out the networks.

All of this over the objections of minority commissioners.

Then-Commissioner Rosenworcel said, "[T]his is not the broadband plan we need. It is not guided by maps. It is not guided by data. It is guided by a desire to rush out the door, claim credit and pronounce our nation's broadband problems solved."

The auction ended with the promise of more than $9 billion to connect 5.2 million homes. But $3 billion of that funding was never awarded. And defaults continue to mount - affecting 1.7 million locations and counting.

Millions of families believed the promise that faster Internet was finally coming, only to be disappointed-and unconnected.

Promises made, promises broken-to millions of Americans.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and our Internet for All program, has been informed by the mistakes of the prior administration's FCC. History should not repeat itself here.

Our Internet for All programs are informed by the best maps this country has ever had; utilizing an array of technologies; in partnership with states and communities; with careful oversight of how taxpayer funds will be spent; to deliver the best high-speed Internet connection possible to every unconnected home.

Today, we are well on our way. We have already awarded billions of dollars. We have already connected tens of thousands of locations through NTIA programs alone.

• We have awarded $1.86 billion to 226 Tribal entities -the largest ever investment in high-speed Internet service on Tribal Lands. Our Tribal program is already connecting or lowering Internet costs for more than 4,500 Tribal homes, with many more to come.
• Through our Middle Mile Program, 1,500 miles of fiber are already under construction.
• Our Broadband Infrastructure Program has made service available to more than 40,000 previously unserved households.
• We've awarded nearly $263 million to Minority-Serving Institutions through our Connecting Minority Communities program. Grantees have distributed more than 21,000 devices to students and community members to date.
• This fall we will be making awards in our Digital Equity State program, and Competitive Grant programs, which have made a combined $1.8 billion available this year alone for digital literacy and skills training.

Shovels have been breaking ground on Internet for All projects across America. I know-I've broken some of that ground myself. And there is much more digging to come.

And we are on time and on track to deliver on our biggest project: the BEAD state grant program, which will be the "clean-up batter" in our grant-making programs.

• To date, we have approved 53 Initial Proposals for how states and territories will connect every unserved location.
• 51 states & territories have either completed or are finalizing their challenge process. Eight states have begun to select the ISPs that will build these networks.
• We've made available more than $24 billion in BEAD funding to states and territories.
• And we've met or exceeded all statutory deadlines to keep the program on schedule.

BEAD gives states both the financial resources and the time to make sure they finish the job and connect every home and small business.

Many of you have been part of that process since Day 1, and I appreciate your commitment to connecting everyone.

In closing, because of the importance of all of these issues, NTIA's work is about more than just technology and communications policy.

It's about creating new jobs and economic opportunity for all Americans.

It's about promoting innovation, and resilience.

It's about competing better on the global stage.

It's about building a more fair and equitable society here at home.

The efforts I've discussed today-to maintain our leadership in spectrum, to secure our wireless supply chain, to achieve an Internet for All-are building the infrastructure America needs.

Thanks to all of you for your leadership and your partnership. Working together, I know we can achieve that vision of building a better-connected world.

Thank you.