The Department of Commerce and the NTIA approved a final waiver notice for the Build America, Buy American Act (BABA). After thorough research, review, and assessment, the DOC found that certain construction materials and manufactured products needed for broadband infrastructure deployments are currently unavailable in the required quantity or quality for the BEAD Program to meet its specified timelines.
This waiver of unavailability exempts the domestic sourcing requirements and BABA supplier stipulations (such as products being manufactured in the US and 55% of components being domestically sourced) for the following product categories:
Term of Waiver: The waiver is five years in length from Feb. 2024 – Feb. 2029, and it applies to the entire period of performance of the award.
Products Manufactured in China: Products manufactured in China are not eligible.
Timing of Compliance: A product must be compliant BEFORE it can be installed or used
- Fixed Wireless Access & Other Non-Fiber Broadband Electronics:
- Product Categories: Towers, Mounting, Mounting Brackets, Conduit, Patch Panels
- Infrastructure Products:
- These products did not fall under the waiver however they are addressed in the DE Minimis Infrastructure Project Waiver (Small Grants and Minor Components within Iron & Steel Products)
- Passive Optical Equipment:
- Product Categories: Splitters, Multiplexers, Demultiplexers, Taps, Directional Couplers, Connectors, Optical Filters, Attenuators, Waiver Division Multiplexers (Non-Powered).
Unavailability Waiver Exempt Product Categories
BABA-Compliant Enclosure Requirements:
- Product Categories: Enclosures (Cabinets (passive or active), Vaults (passive or active) / Below Ground Housings, Pedestals, Closures, and Terminals. Cost component requirement (55% components must be sourced in the US) and “produced” domestically. The following minimum manufacturing process must occur in the United States
- Integrated subassemblies
- Installed internal components, hardware, and wiring
- Sealed and Waterproofed Housing
- Tested with included Documentation
Active Fiber Product Categories & BABA Requirements:
- Product Categories: Active Fiber (OLTs, ONTs). Cost component requirement (55% components must be sourced in the US) and “produced” domestically. Products also need to be certified with BABA.
- Optical line terminals and remote optical line terminals (OLTs)
- OLT Line cards
- Optic pluggable (transceivers) that can be plugged into OLTs, switches, routers (Subscriber facing pluggable
- Optical Network Terminals and Optical Network Units (ONTs)