The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
State broadband offices are facing increasing challenges in hiring and retaining staff, particularly directors. State broadband officials and experts told us competition for talent is heavy.
The Wireless ISP Association raised a red flag Thursday on the response by NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson to a letter led by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., urging NTIA to allow states to use their broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program grants to pay for unlicensed wireless service, which the agency’s notice of funding opportunity guidance doesn’t allow (see 2211220076). Davidson responded this week, saying the BEAD notice of funding opportunity “contains provisions specifically designed to address the concerns about overbuilding you raised in your letter.” The program also includes “a specific provision to prevent overbuilding due to potentially duplicative federal funding commitment,” Davidson said. “Discouraged @NTIAgov head Davidson misses fundamental issue -- BEAD NOFO’s lack of tech-neutrality -- in response to Senator Daines’ concerns over harmful overbuilding,” WISPA tweeted Thursday. NTIA didn't comment.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is setting a new safety standard for operating cords for custom window coverings, it said in a final rule published Nov. 28. Under the standard, cords for custom window coverings will be subject to the same requirements as those for cords on stock window covers under the applicable voluntary standard, CPSC said. The final rule requires that custom window coverings must "meet the requirements for stock window coverings in section 4.3.1 of ANSI/WCMA-2018, meaning that custom window coverings must be cordless, have short cords (8 inches or less), or the cords must be made inaccessible," CPSC said. Methods of making the cord inaccessible include a rigid cord shroud and loop cord and bead chain restraining devices, it said. The final rule takes effect May 30, 2023.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
Colorado should revise its broadband roadmap with guidelines to maximize technology-neutral rules and prioritize low cost and speedy delivery, the Wireless Internet Service Provider Association said in comments Tuesday at the Colorado Office of Information Technology. NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program cites an “important role for fiber,” but the agency’s notice of funding opportunity lets states use funding for quickly deployable fixed wireless, WISPA said: “Fiber projects are often slow to deploy and are increasingly subject to delays related to supply chain-challenges and higher costs from rising inflation.”
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
Pennsylvania is seeking “equitable, affordable, and robust high-speed broadband infrastructure and services connecting Pennsylvania for the 21st century and beyond,” said a state broadband plan adopted Thursday. The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority board approved the plan in a unanimous voice vote at a partially virtual meeting Thursday. Authority Executive Director Brandon Carson said the shot clock is now running to develop the plans required by NTIA to get Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) federal funding.
E-rate advocates sought more emphasis on cybersecurity in the program, during a Schools, Health, & Libraries Broadband Coalition event Thursday. Delivering internet connections is “an ongoing challenge” for E-rate participants, said Funds for Learning CEO John Harrington, and most identified cybersecurity as a cost that should be part of the program’s eligible services list. Whether it should be listed under category 1 or category 2 “is a debate that I would love for us to be having,” he said. “We should never take for granted that there’s a program that provides support” for more than 132,000 schools and libraries, Harrington said, saying there are also some “real practical limitations” to implementing the FCC’s proposed central bidding portal for the E-rate program (see 2204280051).