Tribal

On Monday, September 26, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Director of Research and Fellowships Dr. Revati Prasad hosted an online panel discussion, From the Ground Up: Broadband Mapping By and for Communities, on how communities and states are collecting data on local broadband availability as the Federal Communications Commission rolls out the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) program.

 The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded grants totaling $4.5 million to 9 Tribes as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). These grants will help reduce monthly Internet service costs, plan for future Internet infrastructure investments, upgrade network equipment, and purchase devices.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded grants totaling $4,997,592.68 to ten Tribes as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). With funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), these new grants bring the total of the program to over $1.77 billion awarded to 157 Tribal entities. These grants will help reduce monthly Internet service costs, plan for future Internet infrastructure investments, upgrade network equipment, and purchase devices.

The 2023 Digital Equity Spark Grantees and their projects are:

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded grants totaling $5,841,477.13 to 12 Tribes as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). In the next few months, NTIA will release a second Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for an additional round of funding from the TBCP program.  The Tribes awarded are:

What challenges exist at the federal, state, and local levels that delay or burden broadband deployment?  How can Congress help expedite or streamline the process for broadband deployment? Is attaching telecommunications equipment on municipally or cooperatively-owned poles more difficult or expensive than on other poles?

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel delivered remarks on April 6th, 2023, about the state of communications infrastructure in Indian Country to the 2023 Reservation Economic Summit. "I believe affordable broadband access is a prerequisite for full participation in our society and economy." This statement made by Rosenworcel in her speech highlights the importance of universal broadband access. Rosenworcel discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has brought attention to the digital divide affecting low-income families and rural communities.

In 2020, 18 percent of people living on tribal lands had no way to sign up for broadband internet service, according to the American Indian Policy Institute. That’s compared to 4 percent in the rest of the country. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing broadband disparities on tribal lands in the US. While federal funding has been allocated to address the issue, supply chain issues and labor shortages have slowed progress. The broadband infrastructure on tribal lands is often outdated and underfunded, making it difficult for residents to access online resources and services.

EnerTribe, a Native American and woman-owned consulting firm specializing in telecommunications and infrastructure projects, and Tarana, manufacturer of the Gigabit 1 (G1) broadband platform, the first of its kind in next-generation fixed wireless access (ngFWA), announced their partnership to enable the rapid deployment of reliable, high-speed internet in tribal communities across the US. EnerTribe serves as a resource for operators, value-added resellers, and other organizations that provide essential services to tribal residents, governments, and enterprises.

 The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded two grants totaling more than $25.7 million to two Tribal nations—The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota and the Pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico—as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP).