Vecima Networks, which supplies broadband access equipment, will expand manufacturing into the U.S. for certain products in its Entra portfolio to meet the proposed Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.
Presently, two of Vecima’s broadband access products – the Entra SF-4X Remote Optical Line Terminal (OLT) and the Entra EN8100 Remote PHY Access Node – are compliant with the BABA requirements pertaining to the Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, another IIJA program, and have been widely deployed across North America.
Vecima has been engaged with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications Information and Administrative Agency (NTIA), which is currently finalizing rules related to BABA domestic sourcing requirements for the BEAD Program. Vecima anticipates, based on the steps the company is taking today, that Vecima will be part of NTIA’s list of BABA-compliant vendors for the BEAD program upon finalization of those requirements and its U.S. manufacturing operations.
“Our current Entra fiber and cable access platforms have been broadly successful with service providers due to strong technical and operational differentiation,” said Clay McCreery, Vecima Chief Operating Officer. “Today’s announcement that we’re planning to build products in the United States demonstrates our continued commitment to the marketplace and to empowering communities with equitable access to the broadband networks that fuel progress.”
