The administration began disbursing $2 billion in funds extending broadband access to reservations and tribal lands, part of the recent $1.3 trillion infrastructure law. But that’s far short of the need. So far, 280 tribes have submitted requests totaling $5 billion for Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program funds. The lack of internet access across tribal lands goes beyond money. The neglect and exclusion of Native peoples goes back generations. To this day, tribal lands have comparatively low access to food, clean water, and electricity. Broadband connectivity is just one of many disparities. Matthew Rantanen, director of technology for the Southern California Tribal Chairman's Association, a coalition of 24 federally recognized tribes outside San Diego, estimates closing the digital divide for Native peoples will cost close to $8 billion.

We need to shift the narrative around digital equity. Top of mind for many participants were the very ways we talk about and define digital equity—and how it shapes and sustains the larger systemic challenges we see play out in school systems. Inequitable funding formulas, digital redlining, and biased, eurocentric curriculum, for example, all contribute incrementally to inequitable educational experiences. To add digital technological tools into the mix, particularly when they don’t account for existing inequities, often serves to maintain these challenges. We must engage the whole learning ecosystem—not only students—when it comes to digital equity. Facilitating this narrative shift will require intentional practices at all levels. The learning ecosystem refers to everyone involved in a student’s education, from families to district leaders to policymakers. Often when we think of digital equity, we think solely of students. We tend to overlook both the role that adults, such as parents, families, and teachers, play in students’ digital learning and the ways in which they interact with each other. As our participants pointed out, the structures set up to help families engage with their student’s teachers and understand the ways technology is used in the classroom has everything to do with how invested those families may be in digital learning.

In this letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Acting Administrator Evelyn Remaley, ITI called for specific actions to support efforts to close the digital divide and strengthen US broadband infrastructure across all communities:

• Give states and territories the flexibility to incorporate any combination of technology that can meet the performance requirements that the IIJA and NTIA regulations specify. Whether building out to unserved or underserved communities, or bridging needed middle mile connections, NTIA should make clear that a range of innovative technologies can be included in applications for grants funding commercial ICT options. This flexibility should also facilitate projects for states seeking to demonstrate new use cases and innovative solutions to connect individuals and small businesses from across the country to the digital economy.
• NTIA should work closely with industry and consumer advocates throughout the process of crafting the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and meeting other procedural benchmarks in order to facilitate a timely and effective flow of funding. While current supply chain challenges may have a practical bearing on the speed with which funded networks can be deployed, Americans in all areas of the country are eagerly awaiting the promise of better access through projects funded under the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. We encourage NTIA to establish timely interim benchmarks geared toward distribution of funding to awardees as soon as practicable.
• Ensure that broadband projects can easily incorporate and benefit from commercial information and communications technologies (ICT). Due to domestic content requirements in the law, projects could face unnecessary delays and be unable to access best-in-class, global technology. ITI is strongly urging Congress to take legislative action and the Commerce Department to ensure this shortcoming is addressed to that the infrastructure funding can be distributed to eligible entities as effectively and efficiently as possible, with the widest possible benefits fully realized.
• Consult with industry and federal stakeholders, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) as the Notice of Funding Opportunity is drafted. Along with historic investments in buildout, the IIJA is also facilitating significant investments in security that could be coupled with state broadband plans to ensure that newly deployed networks are also protected against attacks. We expect that States will simultaneously be developing broadband and digital inclusion plans alongside cybersecurity plans as they also compete for security and resiliency funding from other federal agencies pursuant to the IIJA.
• Ensure use of Digital Equity Capacity Grants funding can occur alongside deployment plans and further prioritize state plans that fund digital literacy efforts and support access to connected devices. Digital Equity Capacity Grants are critical for ensuring all Americans, and especially vulnerable populations such as low-income families and seniors, have the means, skills, and devices necessary to securely access broadband services. We urge NTIA to meet the statutory deadline for issuing the NOFO within 180 days so that planning for the use of this funding can occur alongside deployment plans.