The Cost of Connectivity in the Navajo Nation

Tribes are some of the least connected communities in the United States. The lack of broadband availability is especially acute on tribal lands, where the American Indian Policy Institute found that only 49 percent of residents have fixed home internet service. Recent testimony by the president of the Navajo Nation confirms that this figure is even worse in the Navajo Nation, where over half of Navajo chapters lack any broadband access. This analysis of internet service plans in 109 Navajo chapters shows that not only is federal data on internet service in the Navajo Nation inaccurate, but the market is characterized by slow, outdated, and expensive service plans. Internet service in the Navajo Nation is on average $21.70 to $44.01 more expensive than elsewhere in the country, making it unaffordable for many living on Navajo land whose incomes are at or under the poverty level.