E-rate and the Lands the Information Age Forgot

As the Federal Communications Commission considers proposals and recommendations to update its E-rate program, the Benton Foundation is paying close attention to the role of the E-rate in bringing high-capacity broadband to underserved populations, especially those who either have no access to broadband at home, or cannot afford to pay for it. The lack of fundamental telecommunications infrastructure throughout Tribal Lands and Native Communities in the US, and particularly on reservations, is an acute and nagging problem that a reformed E-rate program could do much to address. Members of federally-recognized American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages, “[b]y virtually any measure, … have historically had less access to telecommunications services than any other segment of the population.” In starkest terms, these communities are the lands that the Information Age has forgot.