Biden-Harris Administration Awards $29.3 Million to the Native Village of Port Lions, Alaska

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded a $29.3 million Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) grant to the Native Village of Port Lions, Alaska. This grant will fund a new fiber-optic high-speed Internet network capable of Gigabit speeds. The proposed project will directly connect 930 unserved Native American households that previously had no connectivity to high-speed Internet as well as businesses and anchor institutions. NTIA has now made 70 awards totaling $755,737,402.24 in funding through the TBCP. Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy said, “As someone who lived in a rural village for nearly 20 years, I know the challenges of living in rural Alaska—high costs of living and everyday essentials, limited infrastructure, and oftentimes limited economic opportunities. I’m a firm believer that digital equality creates economic and educational equality. Broadband deployment will be a game-changer in rural Alaska."