NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association released the following statement from CEO Shirley Bloomfield after the U.S. Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes $3.08 billion to fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement (“Rip and Replace”) Program. The U.S. House of Representatives previously passed the NDAA, so the bill now heads to the president’s desk for signature.
“The Rip and Replace program is critical to help smaller operators remove and replace insecure equipment in their networks, and I’m pleased to see it fully funded,” said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield. “Network security is a national priority, and providers will now have the resources needed to help protect their networks from intrusions and other threats. NTCA and its members thank Congress for passing this important funding and look forward to seeing the bill signed into law.”