US Congress Supply Chain Legislation  

The House of Representatives passed, by voice vote, the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR 4998), a bipartisan bill to help secure America’s telecommunications supply chain. The bipartisan Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act: 

• Prohibits the use of federal funds, administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to purchase communications equipment or services from any company that poses a national security risk to American communications networks; 
• Requires the FCC to establish the Secure and Trusted Communications Reimbursement Program to assist small communications providers with the costs of removing prohibited equipment or services from their networks and replacing the prohibited equipment with more secure communications equipment or services; and 
• Helps the Federal government better share supply chain security information with carriers, particularly smaller carriers, to help keep this equipment out of our networks in the future. 

In response to the vote, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), Reps. Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Brett Guthrie (R-KY) issued a statement saying” “Securing our networks from malicious foreign interference is critical to America’s wireless future. Companies like Huawei and its affiliates pose a significant threat to America’s commercial and security interests because a lot of communications providers rely heavily on their equipment,” Pallone, Walden, Matsui and Guthrie said. “This bipartisan legislation will protect our nation’s communications networks from foreign adversaries and help small and rural providers remove and replace suspect network equipment. We look forward to swift action in the Senate so we can send this bill to the President’s desk and protect our national security.”  

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

The Regulatory Mix Today: US Congress Supply Chain Legislation, North Carolina Broadband Grants

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

North Carolina Broadband Grants 

The North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s Broadband Infrastructure Office announced it is now accepting applications from Internet service providers and electric membership cooperatives for $15 million in state funding aimed at helping bring high-speed internet access to rural parts of North Carolina.  The funding is part of the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant Program, which supports efforts by private internet service providers to deploy broadband infrastructure to the state’s 40 most economically distressed counties.  Areas eligible for GREAT Grant funding are census blocks or portions of census blocks in Tier 1 counties – as designated by the N.C. Department of Commerce – that lack access to an internet service providing a minimum download speed of 10 megabits per second and a minimum upload speed of 1 megabit per second. Applications for the 2019-2020 award period are being accepted from Dec. 16, 2019, to March 16, 2020. Information on how to apply can be found athttps://www.ncbroadband.gov/greatgrant/. 

“Broadband is integral to so many aspects of society – from education to healthcare to public safety to economic development – but too many areas across the state, particularly rural, still lack internet access,” said Eric Boyette, NCDIT secretary and state chief information officer. “The GREAT Grant program is one way to tackle this digital divide. I’m looking forward to seeing what providers come up with to ensure every North Carolinian has the broadband access necessary for the 21st century.” 

In May 2019, the GREAT Grant Program awarded providers in 19 counties nearly $10 million to bring high-speed internet to more than 10,000 households, businesses, agricultural operations and community institutions, such as libraries, schools and hospitals. 

The Regulatory Mix will be on hiatus December 24, 2019 to January 1, 2020.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

____________________________

The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.