FCC's Data Overstate Access, and Tribes Face Barriers Accessing Funding

Tribal lands have lower levels of broadband access than the rest of the nation. Congress has prioritized identifying unserved areas and targeting funds to increase broadband deployment, including on tribal lands. In this testimony, the GAO found:

• this digital divide on tribal lands may be larger than estimated because Federal Communications Commission data overstate availability on tribal lands
• tribes face barriers to obtaining funds to improve access. Less than 1 percent of broadband funding from programs we reviewed went directly to tribes from 2010 to 2017.