Senators John Hickenlooper (D-CO) has introduced the bipartisan Network Equipment and Transparency (NET) Act, which his office says is designed to increase supply chain transparency.
The NET Act, which had been initially introduced in the previous legislative session, is co-sponsored by three other Senators – Shelley Moore Capito (R-WVA), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Jerry Moran (R-Ks). It calls for the amendment of Section 13 of the Communications Act of 1934:
- To the extent data is available, require the Federal Communications Commission to determine whether a lack of network equipment impacted the completion of broadband projects in the prior year.
- If the FCC identifies a supply chain disruption impacting the availability of network equipment, it must notify Congress as part of the comprehensive Communications Marketplace Report, which will provide Congress the information necessary to appropriately address the problem
In the argument for those changes, the proposed NET Act says:
“Ongoing infrastructure investments will make broadband faster and more affordable for households and individuals in every state. These critical programs are designed to expand high-speed broadband infrastructure in areas that currently lack this service to close the digital divide once and for all.”
This issue came to a head during the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted supply chains and caused major delays and uncertainty for consumers and businesses buying electronics, fiber optic cables, and other essential components of broadband networks.
The NET Act points out that potential supply chain challenges in the future could reduce the supply of necessary equipment and materials as federal investments expand broadband infrastructure.
The NET Act proposal added: “In a request for comment issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), stakeholders indicated:
- They experienced over 12-month delays to procure chipsets
- Fiber optic cables and related raw materials were in short supply
- The majority of companies surveyed reported their experienced delays in procuring supplies for network deployment often resulted in delayed project installation.”
Federally-funded broadband infrastructure projects rely on robust and predictable supply chains to be completed in a timely and cost-effective fashion.”
Recently enacted legislation, the E-BRIDGE Act, is also designed to help with broadband development in rural areas.
