Some tribes are getting help narrowing the digital divide

In Indian Country, the proportion of households with high-speed internet access has consistently lagged behind the rest of the US. There has been some work to improve things, with an influx of federal funding helping some tribes build their own broadband networks. A Federal Communications Commission program is giving tribes across the US wireless-spectrum licenses for free. But tribes still have to build and pay for the infrastructure to broadcast high-speed broadband. “There are going to be 200 to 300 projects that are going to be built in Indian Country,” said former FCC official Geoff Blackwell. He’s with Amerind Risk Management, a Native-owned insurance company that also helps tribes build broadband infrastructure.