NRTC’s Ted Solomon Lends Rural Expertise to FCC’s Tech Advisory Council

The FCC today announced the newest composition of its Technological Advisory Council (TAC), a group of experts from a wide range of organizations that offer the Commission insights into telecommunications technology. Ted Solomon, NRTC’s VP, Strategy and Corporate Development, is joining the group this year to take part in its futurist activities.

Solomon said he is interested in the rural connectivity aspects of the issues TAC will cover. “Connectivity touches all aspects of rural wellbeing. It’s consumer broadband, IoT [internet of things], precision ag, and it’s our own cooperatives with their networks,” he said.

The TAC over several years has compiled a body of reports and white papers covering topics ranging from network resiliency to IoT and cybersecurity. The FCC is charging the reconstituted TAC to analyze technologies including 6G wireless connections, artificial intelligence and advanced spectrum sharing.

“There are signals that need our attention, from the need for more spectrum to the vulnerabilities of supply chains to the changing dynamics of global standards development,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a press release.  “We are starting that work here and now by re-establishing the TAC and charging it to conceptualize 6G—to help set the stage for our leadership.”

Solomon in his role at NRTC analyzes technologies and technology business cases for rural telcos and electric utilities. He was a lead author of NRTC’s Rural Electric Cooperative Broadband Benchmarking Report (PDF) in 2020, and the Rural Electric Cooperative Smart Grid Benchmarking Report: Creating Value with Smart Grid Applications (PDF), a 2021 joint NRTC/CFC project.

TAC will hold its first 2022 meeting at 10 a.m., Eastern Time, on Feb. 28. The Commission will air the meeting live from its website.