Fiber Via Water Pipes: Interview With Tribal Ready and Aqualinq

Tribal Ready—a Native-owned company that helps deploy broadband networks—recently announced its partnership with Aqualinq to bring fiber broadband to Native communities. The partnership was a product of Tribal Ready’s desire to make the funding from the federal Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program “go as far as possible,” said Tribal Ready President Joe Valandra, and Aqualinq’s persistence in making their case. While broadband is not traditionally considered a utility, there is something in the partnership between Tribal Ready and Aqualinq that suggests the power of two services—broadband and water—working together. “We call it poly-utility,” Valandra said. “Multiple utilities. And we’re trying to help Tribes see the overall vision for that.”