NTIA Issues 'Tough and Pragmatic' Buy America BEAD Waiver

U.S. manufacturers will make almost 90% of the equipment purchased through NTIA's broadband, equity, access and deployment program, the agency said Friday as it announced its final build America, buy America (BABA) waiver for the program (see 2308220081). "If it can be made in America, it should be made in America," said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson in a post on X. The waiver is "tough and pragmatic," he said.

In addition, the waiver "takes the strongest approach possible to protecting American jobs while also ensuring that we can quickly build the Internet networks," NTIA Senior Adviser Will Arbuckle wrote in a blog Friday. "We’re doing this because the stakes are high," he said, adding that self-certification list guidance and measurement and reporting requirements for BEAD will be released "soon." The waiver took effect Wednesday and expires Feb. 22, 2029. The Commerce Department will review the waiver "no less than annually" to consider whether it remains necessary.

"At first, many in industry told us that requiring the buy America domestic manufacturing preference for the BEAD program couldn’t be done" and "that a blanket waiver would be necessary," Arbuckle said: "We worked closely with stakeholders to develop this guidance, and we’re pleased to see that manufacturers have stepped up and proved this narrative wrong." He also noted that the "majority of fiber broadband equipment," including optical fiber, fiber optic cable, key electronics and enclosures, will be made in the United States.

The Commerce Department determined in approving the waiver that "certain manufactured products and construction materials are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities to meet the needs" of the BEAD program. Commerce granted a limited waiver for "non-optic glass inputs to the preform manufacturing process for optical fiber," saying it will "ensure that sufficient and reasonably available quantities of optical fiber are available." The BABA requirement was also waived for "all electronics in BEAD program projects," except for optical line and remote optical line terminals, OLT line cards, optical pluggables, and stand-alone optical network terminals and optical network units.

NTIA’s approach "is a smart move, balancing the need for providers to purchase the network components required for BEAD deployments on time while American manufacturing ramps up," said USTelecom President-CEO Jonathan Spalter. Fiber Broadband Association President-CEO Gary Bolton also applauded NTIA for its "seriousness and diligence" in adopting the waiver. It "will enhance domestic production of the products needed for that infrastructure allowing funding recipients to continue to provide economic opportunity, including job creation, through innovation and timely deployment of broadband infrastructure," Bolton said.

"This limited waiver effectively balances the robust implementation of the BABA requirements with a pragmatic approach towards the intricate global supply chain, ultimately ensuring universal broadband access," said Telecommunications Industry Association CEO David Stehlin said. Friday's announcement "provides clarity to companies investing in U.S. manufacturing and brings us one step closer to our goal of deploying broadband to all Americans," Stehlin said.