FCC Eyes Broadband For Indian Reservations

Only 63 percent of all Americans have high-speed Internet connections. That's low compared with other countries. But when it comes to American Indians, the Federal Communications Commission estimates that fewer than 10 percent are connected.

The cost of building compared with the return is one of the reasons American Indian communities have a long history of neglect when it comes to basic infrastructure. To help change that, at least for broadband, the FCC announced the appointment of Geoffrey Blackwell to lead its initiatives on American Indian affairs. Many tribal communities around the United States are in remote, rural areas. Humboldt County, Calif., is home to several tribes — among them the Karuk. In the small community of Orleans, Calif., the Karuk make up a quarter of the population of just under 1,000 people. The tribe's IT officer, Chris Kleeman, says they even have a hard time getting phone service. "We lose our regular telephones, including 911, hundreds of times each year," Kleeman says. Last July alone, they lost phone service about 250 times, he says. The telephone lines here can go down for hours, which puts the safety and the lives of residents at risk, says Roberta Kurgiliatti, who works for the volunteer fire department. Kurgiliatti recalls two major fires. In one, she says, the house burned to the ground because the homeowners couldn't call for help.