Adtran Invests $5M in 'Buy America' Manufacturing Ahead of BEAD
Adtran will invest about $5 million in its Alabama factory to expand its manufacturing of key electronics equipment used for high-speed internet networks, the company said Wednesday. The announcement comes as part of the Biden administration's "Investing in America" effort…
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and will create up to 300 new jobs. Also Wednesday, NTIA said it plans to release a draft of its build America, buy America (BABA) requirements for its broadband, equity, access and deployment program "later this summer." Adtran said it will expand its existing domestic manufacturing capacity for optical line terminal systems and onshore production of optical network terminals from Southeast Asia. The BEAD program "really opens up an avenue for us to be able to increase our manufacturing throughput, ultimately lower cost, get to kind of an equal footing, and be able to manufacture here in the U.S.," said Adtran CEO Tom Stanton. "Everyone has to have access if we're going to succeed," said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. The BEAD program is a "jobs and infrastructure program," Davidson said: "If it can be made in America, then it should be made in America." Wednesday's announcement is "another great step forward in preparing the fiber access equipment supply chain to be NTIA BEAD compliant," emailed Fiber Broadband Association Gary Bolton. Adtran's investment will "ensure that BEAD recipients can procure the fiber access gear they need for the BEAD fiber network deployment, while meeting the BABA requirements," Bolton said.