TIA Government Affairs Update – June 2022
TIA Government Affairs team has been very active throughout Q2, playing a leading role in shaping the broadband programs funded under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, particularly on convincing the Administration to issue a waiver for “Buy America” provisions within the infrastructure law that the ICT industry currently cannot meet. TIA utilized our comments filed in response to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Request for Comments on setting up these broadband programs as a blueprint for an extensive number of meetings with senior staff in the Administration and the Department of Commerce, and we are continuing to speak with the Secretary of Commerce’s office on securing this commonsense waiver for the ICT industry.
TIA Government Affairs also filed comments before the National Institute for Standards and Technology discussing the widely-viewed success of NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework. These comments address ways that NIST can improve the Framework, including update it to include additional supply chain risk management principles.
TIA Government Affairs worked closely with industry stakeholders and Congressional leadership on securing over $3 billion in additional funding from Congress for the FCC’s Rip and Replace program, which will be utilized by rural telecommunications providers across the country to ensure U.S. networks are built with trusted components. Throughout Q2, TIA Board of Directors and senior executives met with FCC leaders on a range of issues. The Board met with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and senior staff from the Senate Commerce Committee to discuss the implementation of the infrastructure bill, FCC’s work in closing the digital divide, and other infrastructure programs. Senior executives of TIA briefed the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council, DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, as well as NTIA and NIST on the importance of industry-driven standards to add transparency to the ICT supply chain.
As part of TIA Government Affairs global leadership, the team provided remarks at a meeting convened by National Security Council staff to discuss Europe’s proposed changes to its standards development system. TIA also subsequently provided remarks on the issue at a meeting of the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Trade and Technology in Brussels.
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