[Make-wifi-fast] Fwd: URGENT: Survey on NTIA's

[Dave Taht]

being that I am fan of well done wifi, perhaps there are more that would
like to participate in this bit of research. It's the NTIA definition of
"reliable"
that really pains me right now....

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: WISPA <mwendy at wispa.org>
Date: Thu, Jun 16, 2022 at 10:42 AM
Subject: URGENT: Survey on NTIA's
To: Dave Taht <dave.taht at gmail.com>



The Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which Congress passed
last November, directs the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) to implement, among other things, the Broadband
Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

The BEAD program would provide up to $41.6 billion in federal grants for
deployment of broadband services that offer a minimum of 100/20 Mbps to
areas that the IIJA considers to be unserved or underserved by broadband
service today.  Areas are considered unserved if they currently lack
broadband speeds of 25/3 Mbps.  Areas are considered underserved if they
currently lack broadband speeds of 100/20 Mbps.  The IIJA requires NTIA to
provide BEAD funds to state governments that will, in turn, disburse the
funds to broadband internet service providers.  The IIJA also requires NTIA
to define “Reliable Broadband Service.”

On May 13, 2022, NTIA released its Notice of Funding Opportunity for the
BEAD program (BEAD NOFO).  Unfortunately, the BEAD NOFO determined that
broadband service “using entirely unlicensed spectrum” is not “Reliable
Broadband Service.”

This means that locations receiving 25/3 Mbps or faster speeds from
broadband service using only unlicensed spectrum will be considered
unserved and thus eligible for BEAD funding.  This will lead to
overbuilding many of the locations where WISPA operator members currently
serve using only unlicensed spectrum to provide 25/3 Mbps or faster
speeds.  WISPA believes this is flawed and unjust.  Before reaching this
decision, NTIA provided no notice to the public that it was considering
excluding broadband using entirely unlicensed spectrum from the definition
of “Reliable Broadband Service.”

Over the past couple of weeks, WISPA has surveyed more than 30 WISPA vendor
members who are either equipment manufacturers or distributors that sell
radios and other equipment that enable thousands of WISPs to provide
reliable broadband service to millions of locations in the United States
using entirely unlicensed spectrum, with speeds ranging from 25/3 Mbps to
far exceeding 100/20 Mbps.  But we need state specific information as well
to help WISPA’s advocacy before Congressional offices and state
governments.

*Below is a survey that we hope all WISPA operator members will take a few
minutes to review and complete.  Please try to complete the survey by June
17th. * The reason we are asking for Affordable Connectivity Program
information is to show Congressional offices and states how many low-income
consumers are being served by reliable broadband using entirely unlicensed
spectrum.  Our plan is to provide this information on a state-by-state
basis in an aggregated and anonymized manner.  The name of your company
will not be shared when we provide this information.

*Click on the link below to start...*
https://members.wispa.org/survey_start.php?mid=1959771181&rid=408999413
If you have difficulty with the link, please copy & paste the URL into the
address bar of your browser.

(NOTE: Please do not share this link, this link is encoded just for your
use for this survey)



If you no longer wish to receive these messages, please click here to
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<https://members.wispa.org/members/optout.php?orgcode=WISP&svid=3270973&mid=1959771181>

Survey sent by Mike Wendy < mwendy at wispa.org >
WISPA | PO Box 742 | Van Wert, OH 45891





-- 
FQ World Domination pending:
https://blog.cerowrt.org/post/state_of_fq_codel/
Dave Täht CEO, TekLibre, LLC
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