We are now in the midst of holiday celebrations and quality time with loved ones. I happen to have had my first grandchild born this fall, so I have had even more to look forward to on the quality time front! After one of the busiest years in broadband that I can ever remember, I know we are all enjoying the ability to get some rest, eat too much food, and watch a good football game or two. Before we turn the page on 2022, however, I wanted to highlight some of the biggest things we’ve achieved together and hopefully leave you just as excited as I am for what is ahead.
In anticipation of the BEAD distributions, we spent much of 2022 on Capitol Hill and with local, state, and federal agencies urging each to work closely with NTCA members on key implementation questions critical to the success of the program. We also brought key decision-makers to NTCA meetings, conferences, and webinars to speak and answer questions, and we provided members-only tools to help position you for success in the year ahead. I hope you have found helpful the Broadband Opportunity Hub, designed to host the latest funding information and tools, including the BEAD State/Territory Tracker and the Broadband Infrastructure Playbook. These resources will become even more important and useful as funding is allocated by state and local stakeholders, so I encourage you to check back frequently and read our weekly Bandwidth newsletter for timely updates.
While we all know closing the digital divide is an ongoing effort rather than a one-time mission, NTCA members had many successes bridging fundamental connectivity gaps this year. NTCA member companies received over $1 billion in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ReConnect loans and grants to bring broadband to rural areas nationwide. Of course, the job of providing broadband is far from done once the network is built—it’s equally important to provide robust services at affordable rates and to sustain those networks.
For this reason, we have continued to execute upon our “building blocks” strategy that has led to so many successes in universal service advocacy over the past decade. Our member policy committees and NTCA staff spent countless hours reviewing and revising proposals for updates to the high-cost Universal Service Fund (USF). As I shared with you recently, I was thrilled to see so many leaders from our policy committees engage directly with leadership at the FCC to advocate on behalf of the entire membership for critical USF reforms that will deliver higher-speed services on a more sustainable basis to millions of rural Americans. We are doing everything possible to protect, modernize, and promote the successes of these critical high-cost USF programs through frequent discussions with the FCC and members of Congress, and we have even intervened in several recent court challenges that threaten the viability of the various USF initiatives. And as always, our mission is to help ensure that you can deliver every day upon the mission of universal service in the most rural parts of the country.
It is inspiring as well to see not only what you do to build networks, but how you help your communities make the best possible use of them. We have been delighted to see the continuing interest and growth in our Smart Communities program, with hundreds of providers now part of the effort to show—and to tell—the story far and wide that Smart Rural Communities, Smart Tribal Communities, and Smart Connected Communities make a huge difference in the everyday lives of so many Americans. If you aren’t part of this program yet, I’d encourage you to take a closer look at it and think through ways you can better celebrate all of the good work you do on a local and national basis. We are so proud too that the vast majority of our members participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program, reflecting an interest and commitment in giving every member of these communities the chance to participate in today’s online world. Our Digital Inclusion series provided concrete examples and resources to help more folks get online, whether through free and low-cost services, digital literacy training or help with device purchases. As community-based providers, you’ve been doing this for decades, so this is our way of saying keep up the good work!
Turning to Capitol Hill, we saw a flurry of legislative activity this year that also kept us all busy. In addition to encouraging Congress to support letters to the FCC related to USF reforms and broadband maps, address supply chain concerns, support broadband workforce needs, and help prevent the overbuilding of networks, NTCA supported House and Senate versions of the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act, which would ensure funding allocated for the deployment of broadband from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the American Rescue Plan, and certain other governmental initiatives would not be considered taxable income. Although these common-sense measures ultimately were not adopted before the clock wound down, they gained widespread bipartisan support, and we remain hopeful for a greater focus on this and other tax relief measures such as bonus depreciation in the 118th Congress. NTCA also fully supported the ACCESS Rural America Act, introduced in both chambers to amend the Securities Exchange Act to grant small, rural community-based communications providers relief from onerous corporate reporting and compliance requirements that were intended to address concerns about a lack of disclosure by larger publicly-traded corporations as part of Sarbanes-Oxley legislation years ago. These are very important bills, and you can count on us to continue advocating for their passage with your help in the new year.
Finally, we heard loud and clear from our membership about the challenges in finding and retaining workers. This brings me to one of my proudest 2022 accomplishments: new partnerships we created to prepare a 21st century workforce in rural America. You’ve heard me talk about it a lot, but I couldn’t be happier that we’re stepping up to help grow the number and skills of broadband workers serving your communities along with our partners Northwood Technical College, the National Rural Education Association, and the Communications Workers of America. Stay tuned for much more on these programs as we roll them out at RTIME in San Diego and encourage all of you to get involved. Similarly, we’ve heard from you about problems in the telecommunications and broadband supply chain and, from advocacy at the highest levels of government to detailed discussions with various manufacturers and distributors, we are hopeful to see several important measures of progress, improvement, and opportunity early next year.
And I would be remiss if I did not also highlight how NTCA provides significant support for your operations through the fantastic employee benefit programs and education, training, and business solutions we offer. Our team revels in serving your employees to the best of their abilities through our excellent retirement plans and training opportunities tailored to the unique needs of our industry. I promise the value you gain from your membership is unmatched, and that is in large part because of NTCA’s most prized asset: our employees. Please join me in thanking them for another great year when you see them on the road, speak on the phone, or attend a virtual meeting.
This is a long way of saying what you’ve heard me say many times this year: thank you. You drive our mission every day, and you stepped up to the challenges and opportunities that 2022 had to offer. I have the highest hopes that 2023 will be as fruitful for all of us. Rest up while you can because it’s going to be another busy year!
Thank you for your membership. Happy holidays from all of us at NTCA.