It’s good for the federal government to fund chips in states that have already spent their own money, rather than trying to spread money across every area that hasn’t invested in semiconductors, said panelists on an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) webinar Wednesday. State officials discussed their roles in helping the Chips Act succeed. “Piggybacking on the work we’re doing is what is going to see us succeed,” said Kevin Younis, New York Empire State Development chief operating officer. “There has to be strategic cluster-based investments [or] we’re not going to succeed. With the peanut butter spread over the whole sandwich, you won’t taste it.” States can help the Chips Act succeed by addressing the workforce gap and cutting red tape, said David Isaacs, Semiconductor Industry Association vice president-government affairs. "There's a huge gap throughout the economy in skilled workers," with the semiconductor industry “just a small slice of the overall pie,” said Isaacs. An SIA report said about 58% of needed jobs may not be filled, including engineers, computer scientists and technicians, he said: “We need to see federal-state partnerships with industry and education to train these workers.” Also, states can play an important role speeding projects by streamlining permitting and other regulatory approval processes, he said. Arizona Commerce Authority CEO Sandra Watson said her state is “constantly having conversations about the regulatory environment and how to make that easier on industry.”
California State Senate confirms Karen Douglas as Public Utilities Commission member (see 2212230042) … Anne Veigle says she left FCC to become International Telecommunication Union’s senior communications adviser … LG Ad Solutions names Zenapse’s Michael Hudes president-CEO and adds him to its board; Chief Operating Officer Adam Sexton relinquishes his acting CEO role ... Provenir, supplier of AI-powered risk decisioning software, taps Builder.ai’s Andres Elizondo, also former Rackspace Technology, as chief financial officer ... OpenText names Shannon Bell, ex-Rogers Communications, executive vice president-chief digital officer and adds her to its executive leadership team.
NTIA expects that 90% of broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) equipment spending will go for American-made equipment and materials, said NTIA Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (OICG) Policy Advisor Will Arbuckle Wednesday in an FTI Consulting webinar. That expectation stems from an NTIA analysis of the availability of American-made items and from numerous companies announcing capacity expansion, he said. "We don't think we are done," with more companies announcing manufacturing expansions to fill BEAD made-in-America demand, he said.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., touted U.S.-based 5G equipment manufacturer JMA Wireless, during a Wednesday tour of its Syracuse, New York, campus as “critical” to countering Chinese efforts to lead in the technology’s development, while defending his votes against the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and 2022 Chips and Science Act. “I don’t want government controlling and picking the winners and losers” in telecom and other technology, McCarthy said during a news conference. "I actually like the private sector, exactly what JMA is doing. It’s their investment of $50 million that created something, and now government can be a partner.” McCarthy, who toured JMA before a Wednesday fundraiser for freshman Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., said the lawmaker is advising other GOP members on tech issues. Williams is a House Science Committee member. Williams, who won his first House election last year, wasn't in Congress for the IIJA and Chips measure votes. “You want a member that understands technology,” McCarthy said. “Look at what” Williams “was doing in technology and his business before he became a member of Congress. He knows what’s happening.”
ASPEN, Colo. -- The FCC broadband equity, access and deployment program’s spending will have a “huge stimulative effect” on private investments in network infrastructure over the next decade, said New Street Research’s Jonathan Chaplin Tuesday. BEAD will drive a lot of buildout by mobile carriers and wireless ISPs, said Will Adams, T-Mobile vice president-strategic policy and planning, at the Technology Policy Institute's Aspen Forum. FCC Chief of Staff Narda Jones said robocalls will remain a consumer issue focus for the agency. Panels also discussed online platform content moderation controversies (see 2308220048) and broadband deployment in Mexico and Canada.
The current iteration of the FCC’s Technology Advisory Council, with its focus on 6G, held its final meeting Thursday, its first meeting in 2023. TAC members approved two white papers and reports by its working groups. Andrew Clegg, co-chair of the Advanced Spectrum Sharing Working Group, told TAC the group faced roadblocks getting data from the government. TAC approved recommendations and a white paper from the WG, which the FCC hasn't posted.
Chinese tech giant Huawei reported its revenue grew 3% over the same period last year in the first half of 2023 and its profit margin increased despite U.S. and other international sanctions. Andy Purdy, Huawei chief security officer, said in an interview Friday Huawei remains open to better relations with the U.S., and blocking Huawei won’t make the U.S. safer.
Comments are due Sept. 28 on a Treasury Department rule on implementing an executive order meant to combat national security threats posed by technology in China, Hong Kong and Macau, the department said Wednesday. The EO, which President Joe Biden signed Wednesday, addresses U.S. “investments in certain national security technologies and products in countries of concern.” The department has been asked to issue a rule regulating technology related to semiconductors, microelectronics, quantum computing and AI. The EO directs Treasury to ban U.S. citizens from “engaging in certain transactions involving certain technologies and products that pose a particularly acute national security threat” to the U.S. The rules would govern notification requirements for transactions involving certain technologies and products that pose national security threats.
DENVER -- More companies will likely join Nokia onshoring equipment for high-speed internet infrastructure, broadband officials predicted Wednesday at Mountain Connect here. In an interview, Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton said NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program is the best internet infrastructure program he has ever seen, though challenges ahead include workforce shortages and possible permitting delays.
Leaders of the 5G for 12 GHz Coalition hope for FCC action by year-end on rules to allow fixed-wireless use of the lower 12 GHz band. Comments were due Wednesday on a Further NPRM, which commissioners approved 4-0 in May, examining fixed-wireless and unlicensed use of 12.2-12.7 GHz spectrum (see 2305180052). That FNPRM was part of a complicated series of items addressing the 12 and 13 GHz bands.