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Congress weighs role of 2 federal agencies in broadband deployment grants

As the U.S. government looks to promote broadband deployment and free up more spectrum for wireless operators, two federal agencies that typically work together on these issues are finding more opportunities for cooperation, but also conflict.

Much like the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration a division of the U.S. Commerce Department that advises the president on telecommunications policy issues focuses its policymaking on expanding broadband internet access in America and on expanding the use of spectrum. The two agencies have jurisdiction over commercial and government communications, respectively, and thus are meant to work hand in hand. However, new questions from some lawmakers about which agency should be responsible for overseeing broadband deployment grants could complicate that relationship.

Speaking during a March 6 Congressional hearing, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said he would like to see the NTIA take a more active role in encouraging broadband deployment, and he is pursuing legislation that would require it to do so. Pallone's infrastructure proposal — the Leading Infrastructure For Tomorrow's America Act, or LIFT America Act — would authorize $40 billion for the deployment of secure and resilient broadband. The bill, first put forward in 2017 as part of a larger infrastructure plan, specifies the NTIA, not the FCC, would oversee the program.

"Ensuring that NTIA is the agency that distributes these funds is critical," Pallone said at the hearing.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, both Republicans, disagree, arguing that if new federal broadband spending is to occur, it should be directed through the FCC's Universal Service Fund. Because a portion of that fund is already used to subsidize the deployment of broadband in unserved areas, O'Rielly has said the commission's program "can be extended quickly with existing agency personnel, resources and oversight, whereas creating new programs within other agencies would require rebuilding that infrastructure and accountability, adding time and expense."

During the March 6 hearing, Pallone said he preferred to keep any newly appropriated broadband funds separate from the FCC's Universal Service Fund. The FCC fund, he noted, is supported through revenue contributions from phone companies, with the FCC collecting a percentage of revenues for all interstate and international calls. "Co-mingling USF with appropriated funds would be a mistake and would risk its long-term sustainability," Pallone said.

Pai argued during a speech in 2017 that the FCC's "track record is frankly better than that of other agencies" when it comes to overseeing broadband deployment. To prove his point, Pai referenced a 2009 stimulus bill that gave direct funding for broadband deployment to both the Commerce and Agriculture departments. The programs ultimately overseen by both departments subsequently were criticized by lawmakers for overspending, overbuilding and waste.

The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, for instance, found in 2014 that 14%, or 42 of 297, of the Agriculture Department's subsidized broadband projects were terminated. Of the ones that were operational, the GAO said the department lacked sufficient data to show the true impact of federal spending. "[Agriculture] has not shown how much the program's approximately $3 billion in project funding — an unprecedented level of federal investment in broadband — has affected broadband availability," the GAO report said.

As for the Commerce programs, which were overseen by NTIA, The New York Times reported in 2013 that a $100 million grant in Colorado was used to build a third fiber connection to an 11-student elementary school, while surrounding mountain communities remained wholly unserved.

Asked during the hearing whether Congress should include grant-making authority for the NTIA as part of any broadband infrastructure legislation, NTIA Administrator David Redl said the agency has been looking at all the ways it can help to bring broadband infrastructure to every corner of the country. "Certainly I would never say that we should not have every tool available in the toolkit, and grant-making authority is one of those tools," he said.

President Donald Trump has put forward an infrastructure plan that allocates $50 billion in direct federal funding to a new Rural Infrastructure Program, though that money is to be shared between transportation, broadband, water and electric projects, among others. The White House plan envisions the bulk of that money being administered by individual states.

In addition, the infrastructure plan provides $20 billion for a Transformative Projects program, where funding will be awarded on a competitive basis to innovative transportation, clean water, drinking water, energy and broadband. That program will be administered by the Commerce Department.

While there might be some back-and-forth over which agency is best equipped to handle new broadband funding, NTIA and FCC continue to collaborate on a number of fronts. In particular, the two agencies are working to free up spectrum for mobile use, with NTIA having recently identified 100 MHz of midband spectrum currently used by the government for potential repurposing. This spectrum, the 3,450 MHz to 3,550 MHz band, is currently used for military radar systems. But NTIA is working with the Department of Defense to see whether advanced wireless services can be introduced in this band without harming existing government operations.

During the hearing, Redl noted the midband band targeted by NTIA is adjacent to the 3,550 MHz to 3,700 MHz band where the FCC has established its Citizens Broadband Radio System. CBRS includes spectrum that is not sold to operators, nor is it unlicensed, like Wi-Fi. Rather, access is partitioned and assigned to macro and small cell requests dynamically.