Biden-Harris Administration Awards Nearly $50 Million to Expand High-Speed Internet Access on Tribal Land in Mississippi, Oklahoma

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded $49,112,883.26 in funds from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 to tribes in two states. The awards will provide funds for high-speed internet infrastructure deployment projects through the Internet for All Initiative’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians of Mississippi and the Osage Nation of Oklahoma. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians will receive $8,433,633.26 to install fiber to connect 2,190 unserved Native American households, 86 businesses, and 60 community anchor institutions with fiber internet service. The Osage Nation will receive $40,679.250.00 to install infrastructure for high-speed internet deployment in unserved areas, bringing new access to 3,158 households.  NTIA has now made a total of 53 awards totaling more than $339 million in funding through the TBCP.