TIA Urges ICT Waivers for Buy American Provisions to Meet Broadband Connectivity Goals

Arlington, VA (January 31, 2022) – The Telecommunications Industry Association—the trusted industry association for the connected world—today shared support for the vital investments outlined in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), but cautioned that parts of the Buy American provisions could hamper creating a truly connected nation.

TIA and a coalition of groups including CCA, CTIA, NCTA, NTCA, TechNet, and US Telecom urged Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to consider a waiver for information and communication technology (ICT) products from the “Buy American” provisions of the law.

The groups said, “a limited, programmatic waiver is a necessary precondition to effective and efficient investment in broadband and will help ensure that every American has access to the digital infrastructure of the future.”

“Americans without access to broadband cannot wait for a domestic supply chain to be developed out of whole cloth, and the federal government has a clear path forward to ensure the success of the President’s infrastructure agenda by instituting a waiver,” the coalition said.

The limited waiver would be in line with previous waivers from the NTIA and other agencies implemented in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and it is a vital and necessary step toward the goal of ensuring that every American has access to high-speed broadband.

CLICK HERE to read the coalition letter