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) received more than 160 applications in funding requests totaling more than $2.64 billion for the second Notice of Funding Opportunity in the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program.

Choice Broadband, the wireless broadband branch of the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, and Tarana Wireless have officially launched a new ngFWA broadband network in Tohatchi, New Mexico. This is the first of many upgraded networks that will equip residents and businesses of Navajo Nation, the largest indigenous tribe in the United States, with reliable, high-speed internet. In Tohatchi, rocky terrain and significant distances between homes makes trenching fiber for broadband access extremely costly.

The Biden-Harris Administration announced the approval of $10 million for multi-purpose facilities in Tribal communities under the US Department of the Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund (CPF), part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.

Streamlining permitting efforts is crucial to quickly deploy the high-speed Internet networks needed by families and businesses across the U.S. The impact of the Advisory Council’s action will be felt immediately in our current broadband projects, and will make it easier for future deployments to connect unserved locations across America.

Our journey towards providing Internet for All will only succeed if we are able to quickly build high-speed Internet networks and get people the connections they need for doctor’s visits, distance learning, and applying for jobs. One important way to meet this moment is to streamline permitting reviews.

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) Chair Sara Bronin announced her approval of the Amended Program Comment for Federal Communications Projects. The amendment was requested by the US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The purpose of the amendment is to assist federal agencies in efficiently permitting and approving the deployment of wired and wireless next generation technologies of communications infrastructure, including 5G, to connect all communities with reliable, high-speed Internet.

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is making investments to provide clean drinking water, sanitary wastewater systems and affordable high-speed internet to people in Tribal communities. Secretary Vilsack made this announcement at the one of the nation’s largest Tribal economic development conferences, the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s Reservation Economic Summit (RES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. USDA is investing $58 million in Tribal

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the new members of the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee.  This advisory panel provides guidance, expertise, and recommendations to the FCC on telecommunications issues affecting local, county, state and Tribal governments.

Michelson will continue growing its Digital Equity in Tribal Communities project by supporting the Tribal Resource Center (TRC), a Native American-led non-profit initiative under People-Centered Internet that is dedicated to offering trustworthy guidance for tribal communities seeking greater access to broadband. Digital inequity is especially apparent on tribal lands in California, with over a quarter of households lacking broadband service at 100 Megabit per second speeds.