Navajos Could Lose Net Access

A large swath of the sprawling Navajo Nation could lose access to the Internet today, in a dispute that threatens services from personal e-mail to police radio communications on the 27,000-square-mile reservation. The Navajos' problem stems from a funding battle over whether an arm of the Federal Communications Commission will continue to pay grant money to the tribe's Internet provider. In a letter to the nonprofit agency that administers the grant, Joe Shirley Jr., president of the Navajo Nation, wrote that "in just a few days, the Navajo Nation will lose its entire communications network, including its public safety network, as a byproduct of USAC's mishandling of this matter," referring to the agency, Universal Service Administrative Co. Hundreds of Navajo students will be unable to finish online courses, he said, and "sadly, mothers are also no longer able to reach out and communicate with their children at war in Iraq." The tribe of about 250,000 people already has lost Internet service to libraries and community centers known as "chapter houses," and has little access to cellphone service on a reservation that stretches across parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Most Internet access there is provided via satellite, which is due to be shut off. Much of the Navajo Nation is inaccessible to land lines.