Nokia self-certifies fiber products for BEAD

Nokia today announced that it became the first technology vendor to self-certify its fiber products manufactured in the U.S., ensuring each meets the requirements outlined in the recently announced BABA compliance and self-certification guidelines for the BEAD program. BEAD Applicants can now obtain a Certification Letter from Nokia to prove BABA compliance.

Operators and infrastructure players seeking to participate in BEAD and the $42.45bn of available funding will need to ensure - under federal penalty - that certain fiber broadband equipment used in their network buildouts are manufactured in the U.S. To help, the NTIA created a self-certification and compliance framework for manufacturers, allowing each to show its products meet these requirements. Manufacturers that complete the self-certification process are added to a list managed by the Department of Commerce. Focused on reducing the number of fraudulent claims of BABA compliance, the list requires manufacturers to have an officer of the company certify - under fine or imprisonment - that its products are Buy America-compliant. Manufacturers must also be able to provide a BABA certification letter to subgrantees for audit purposes.

Nokia is the first vendor to self-certify that all of its fiber broadband products manufactured in the U.S. are Buy America-compliant and meet the final guidelines specified by the NTIA. The list of certified products includes:

Read the full press release here.
Nokia