National Telecommunications and Information Administration NTIA

President Carter created the National Telecommunications and Information Administration by executive order on March 27, 1978, merging a White House telecommunications office with a Commerce office, and Congress codified it in 1992. It is led by the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, who serves as the President's principal adviser on telecommunications policy. It is distinct from the Federal Communications Commission, an independent agency that regulates private and state use of the airwaves.

NTIA manages the radio spectrum used by federal agencies, including the military, weather satellites, and air traffic control, and negotiates when spectrum is shifted to commercial uses such as 5G. It represents the United States in international internet and telecommunications bodies, and it oversaw the 2016 transfer of the internet's domain name system stewardship to a global multistakeholder body. It also funds research and public safety communications through its oversight of FirstNet.

The 2021 infrastructure law gave NTIA the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, about $42.5 billion to bring high-speed internet to unserved homes, allocated to states in 2023. After slow progress, NTIA restructured the program in June 2025, ending its preference for fiber and opening it to satellite and other technologies. Supporters said the change would connect more people faster and at lower cost, while critics, including some state broadband officials, said it favored cheaper but less durable service.