The big infrastructure bill known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law by President Biden in November of last year. Buried in the more than 1,000 page bill is a complex provision on the sourcing of products and it puts the success of its investments in broadband internet on the line.

The provisions in question are known as the "Build America, Buy America" provisions under Title IX of the law. In short, they state that federal funding can only go to projects that use products "produced in the United States."

Where it gets complicated is legally defining what "produced in the United States" actually means. Is a router assembled in Tuscaloosa with Taiwanese chips and Vietnamese plastic casings produced in the United States? What if a gNodeB radio unit manufactured by an U.S. subsidiary ...