Consumer Technology Association (CTA) vice president of regulatory affairs J. David Grossman introduced U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson, NTIA administrator, who addressed the CES audience on federal plans to expand broadband access in 2023. “As you all know, the Internet today is the essential tool in our modern world,” he said. “Yet, in 2023, millions of people in this country don’t have the access or skills they need to take advantage of the Internet.” After 20 years of talk, he added, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will now provide over $65 billion to invest in that mission.

Davidson noted that the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) is, by law, the president’s principal advisor in communications policy, including expanding broadband Internet access, managing spectrum and making sure the Internet remains an engine of growth. The first step in 2022 was to lay the groundwork, awarding planning grants to tribal and minority communities. The next move, he said, will be determining how much each state and territory will get.

“This is a moment of great challenge and opportunity,” he said. “It’s not often that we spend tens of billions of dollars. In the past, we did that to bring water, electricity and highways to everyone in America. This is our big infrastructure moment.”

NTIA will also be active in “invigorating more competition in the wireless space so that new players can emerge.” “China has been part of the problem,” said Davidson. “It’s creating global security risks we can’t ignore any more. There are a limited number of trusted players.”

He pointed out that $1.5 billion in the CHIPS Act will “help break open that market.” He added that they will also “move forward on Open Radio Access Network technology.”

Second, said Davidson, NTIA will be launching a national spectrum strategy to develop a long-term plan for Federal and private use. “We are the federal manager of spectrum usage but we appreciate the imperative that we must lead the innovative use of spectrum resources in the U.S. to bring new products to market,” he said. “We have a limited resource and we want to meet the federal and private missions.”

He added that “we need private sector input and we want to build the best possible communication network and Internet with you.”

The third big area that NTIA will focus on in the coming year is privacy. “The U.S. needs a comprehensive federal privacy law,” Davidson asserted. “It’s probably surprising for those of us who have worked in this space so long that we still don’t have one. A national law is better than a patchwork of state laws. We need baseline safety for consumer protection, and we’ll be looking at harms in the area of civil rights and privacy.”

Last, Davidson mentioned AI and machine learning. “NTIA plans to safeguard ML and AI systems,” he said. “They remain very opaque right now. We want assurances they are safe, effective, reliable and lawful. The private sector has to be a major leader here. We will be requesting input on what AI audits could and should look like and if different industry sectors will need different types of audits.”

“2023 will be a very busy year for NTIA,” he concluded. “It’s an ambitious mission and part of our message is we want to work with all of you to make this a reality.”