The Chips and Science Act offers $39 billion to boost the U.S. semiconductor industry, but many applicants could come away empty-handed, said Michael Schmidt, director of the Commerce Department’s CHIPS Program Office, at an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation conference Wednesday.
NTIA plans a public information session May 4 on the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund’s first notice of funding opportunity, says a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register. “The event will provide an opportunity for the program team to discuss the technical aspects of the NOFO, as well as best practices for applicants navigating the federal awards process,” NTIA said. The meeting will be in-person from 9 a.m. to noon EDT at the Department of Interior's Yates Auditorium. The $1.5 billion federal fund, part of the Chips and Science Act, is intended to spur the growth of open radio access networks (see 2303240054). Applications are due June 2.
The U.S. faces a shrinking percentage of students graduating with electrical engineering (EE) degrees, despite the importance of the engineering specialty to the telecom industry and the U.S. economy, ITIF said in a report released Monday. From 1997 to 2020, EE bachelor’s and master’s degrees conferred rose just 37.5%, while degrees in all other fields rose 81.1%, the report said. EE degrees granted to U.S. citizens increased 18.2%, compared to 110% for temporary residents. The group notes that the Chips and Science Act “will create tens of thousands of jobs in the coming years” requiring EE degrees. “Policymakers should provide incentives for colleges and universities to keep expanding EE enrollment for U.S. citizens and permanent residents while increasing retention rates,” ITIF recommended: “Many jobs in EE relate to military or other national security application areas that require the holder to be a U.S. citizen” and “many foreign students who obtain EE degrees here return to their home nation, boosting their domestic industry, not America’s.”
CTIA, NTCA and eight other groups urged the leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services and Commerce committees Thursday “to restore FCC auction authority to safeguard our national security and promote our economic security with clear planning for future commercial spectrum opportunities.” The FCC’s mandate expired in March amid a Senate impasse on two competing bills to extend the remit that turned on related negotiations on a larger spectrum legislative package that Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., feared would result in a deal that would repurpose parts of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band for commercial use before DOD finishes a study of its systems on the frequency (see 2303090074). FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and other commissioners similarly encouraged Congress Wednesday to bring back the commission’s mandate (see 2304190069). “Congress has acted decisively to promote our national security and unlock domestic innovation with the CHIPS Act and similar efforts to promote U.S. and trusted allies in the wireless equipment market,” the groups said in a letter to Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I.; House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala.; and the panels’ ranking members. “A similar bipartisan effort is needed now to address spectrum policy, because we are at risk that key 5G innovations will be pushed overseas, particularly to China, if we do not recommit to a spectrum policy that ensures that both government and commercial interests have sufficient access to key spectrum bands.” China “is poised to have over 400 percent more 5G spectrum than the United States available for commercial use by 2027, and is working now to drive other nations to make available the same bands that are already available in China,” the groups said: Reauthorization will “safeguard our national security and promote our economic security with clear planning for future commercial spectrum opportunities.”
North American Broadcasters Association appoints Summit Ridge Group’s Rebecca Hanson, ex-Sinclair, director-general, beginning April 15 as designate alongside Director-General Michael McEwen before taking full responsibility July 1; McEwen retiring this summer.
NTIA released its first notice of funding opportunity for its $1.5 billion Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund Wednesday (see 2303240054). The notice, funded by the Chips and Science Act, "aims to expand and improve testing to demonstrate the viability" of open radio access networks, said a news release. The agency anticipates awarding up to $140.5 million in its initial round of grants. Applications are due by June 2. "We look forward to bringing the best of industry, academia, and the public together to deliver on this initiative," said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
NEC America rehires Kris Ranganat from Paravision.ai as senior vice president-digital platform ... AI semiconductor company Tenstorrent adds former Intel Chief Architect Raja Koduri to its board; Tenstorrent co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Ljubisa Bajic scaling back his full-time role, will remain involved with the company as advisor ... Business-only fiber network Everstream names Wipro’s Ken Fitzpatrick, also ex-Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable, president-CEO, succeeding Bill Major, who was acting president-CEO since February ... Electric vehicle developer Rivian Automotive hires 30-year Mercedes Benz veteran Martin Huelder as vice president-commercial, Europe ... Cloud database company MariaDB names Conor McCarthy, ex-Ideanomics, chief financial officer ...
Regulators dealing with the growing crush of supplemental coverage from space applications might support trying to help foster SCS business initiatives, but that can't come at the expense of protecting incumbents from interference, Iridium CEO Matt Desch said. In an interview, he discussed with us the genesis of Iridium's SCS partnership with Qualcomm (see 2301050061), on what handset makers and mobile network operators (MNO) are looking for in satellite partners, and what SCS partnerships may be in Iridium's future. Following are Desch's lightly edited responses.
House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee Republican and Democratic members took widely divergent views Wednesday of Commerce Department implementation of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act-funded broadband programs and money from the 2022 Chips and Science Act. Subpanel Chairman Morgan Griffith, R-Va., made clear the hearing was only the initial stage in their plans. Griffith and other Oversight Republicans repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats for signing off on IIJA and the Chips law, saying both meant unrestrained spending and don’t have enough checks to prevent waste, fraud and abuse. Democrats conversely trumpeted the measures as crucial to helping Americans amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Members of the FCC Precision Ag Task Force raised concerns Tuesday about how the commission's next iteration of the broadband availability map will treat agricultural lands. Meeting virtually, the task force also heard updates from working group leaders and discussed the timing of its reports amid efforts to pass the 2023 farm bill (see 2212020059).