Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Vice Chairman Tom Udall (D-NM), along with Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced the Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020 to accelerate the deployment of broadband services to Native communities and bridge the digital divide facing Native communities. The bill would expedite the deployment of affordable broadband service on Tribal lands by coordinating and improving the effectiveness of federal resources. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), less than half of households on Tribal lands have access to fixed broadband service. This represents a nearly 27-point gap compared to non-Tribal rural areas. This gap only widens when compared to the country-wide average. In 2018, the FCC estimated that 35 percent of Americans living on Tribal lands lacked access to broadband services, compared to eight percent of all Americans. The Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020 would: 

• Establish the Tribal Broadband Interagency Working Group to improve coordination across federal broadband programs and reduce deployment barriers;
• Require that technical assistance be provided to interested, underserved Native communities to develop a broadband deployment plan;
• Streamline the application process for federal grants to support the deployment of broadband services on Tribal lands;
• Establish a Tribal Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee;
• Sets aside FCC and USDA funds for the benefit of broadband deployment on Tribal lands; and
• Establish the Tribal Broadband Right-of-Way Pilot Program.