First Buy America-compliant broadband products are made in Kenosha County
The first Buy America-compliant broadband network products, from Finnish telecom company Nokia, rolled off the assembly line Wednesday at a Kenosha County factory.
The electronic components, used in fiber broadband networks, are being made for Nokia at Sanmina Corp. in Pleasant Prairie. Using thin strands of glass to transmit data with light, fiber networks have become the backbone of high-speed internet service. One of the Nokia products is a modem used in consumers' homes.
Nokia says it is the first company to manufacture network components in the United States under the $42 billion federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program aimed at bringing high-speed internet to places lacking the service, largely rural areas.
One of the program's requirements calls for internet service providers to use made-in-America products in order to qualify for the grant money. There aren’t many exceptions, and it’s up to states receiving the funding to apply for allowable waivers.
Wisconsin has been allocated more than $1 billion in the BEAD program. That's in addition to more than a billion in subsidies already spent or allocated for internet expansion in the state.
Nokia makes products in many countries including China. That will continue to be the case even with the new work in Pleasant Prairie.
"The decision to on-shore manufacturing to the U.S. was in response to BEAD," the company said.
The manufacturing of Nokia products in Pleasant Prairie is expected to create around 200 jobs at the Sanmina plant.
Sanmina, based in San Jose, California, is a global manufacturer of products used in telecommunications, medical, defense and other industries. The company has 19 plants in North America including three in Mexico and two in Canada.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: First Nokia Buy America-compliant electronics made in Kenosha County
