Tribal

On the Hopi Reservation’s more than 1.5 million acres of desert landscape in northeast Arizona, most residents live in villages atop arid mesas. Below ground, there’s a network of copper wires that provides telephone and internet service. In 2004, Hopi Telecommunications bought the company that had installed them, but has been struggling ever since to upgrade the network to broadband speeds. Hopi Telecommunications serves both the Hopi reservation and parts of the surrounding Navajo Nation.

At the Department of Commerce, we are laser-focused on building a 21^st century economy, and that starts with high-speed internet. For too long, tribal communities have been cut off from reliable, affordable internet. But that’s changing. Through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, we have awarded over $1.8 billion to more than 220 tribal entities to expand high-speed internet network deployment and digital skills training.

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe has completed the first phase of a $60 million, 300-mile-plus fiber optic broadband internet project that will ultimately deliver high-speed internet services to over 5,000 homes across the Southern Ute Reservation. Tribal Councilor Stacey Oberly said 52 miles of fiber have been installed, and fiber connecting Durango’s Three Springs neighborhood to the town of Ignacio is undergoing testing. Jeff Engman of Southern Ute Shared Services said through the second phase, which will serve 2,800 households, including homes along Highway 151 to Pagosa Springs, is now un

How Congress, the federal Executive Branch, state and local governments, and carriers can forestall likely, measurable declines in broadband geographical penetration and subscription rates achieved during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, a look at the reforms needed to make ongoing universal service subsidy programs sustainable and more effective in achieving additional progress in bridging the Digital Divide as emergency grant programs wind down.

AT&T increased coverage on tribal lands by more than 40 percent between 2020 and 2022, according to Rachel Salinas, president of ICAE, the Inter-Tribal Council of AT&T Employees. The company also expanded the FirstNet mobile broadband public safety network to move than 70 tribal nations. Telecompetitor reports that a recent AT&T collaboration with the Cherokee Nation brought a cellsite to Kenwood (OK) that supports FirstNet connectivity, as well as general connectivity for the tribe.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act Programs are critical for communities in need of access to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet. Recently, NTIA requested input from our stakeholders through a Request for Comment (RFC).

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded 28 grants totaling $74,424,986.73 to 28 Tribal entities as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). Grants were made to tribes in Alaska, Arizona, California, Michigan, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) was awarded a $35 million grant to install affordable, reliable high-speed fiber broadband in the three underserved TCC village communities of Venetie, Chalkyitsik, and Circle (AK). The project is part of the Alaska FiberOptic Project, which is a larger collaboration between Calista Corporation; Doyon, Limited; Gana-A ‘Yoo Limited; Tanana Chiefs Conference; and Alaska Communications to connect more than 20 communities in the Yukon and Kuskokwim regions, beginning in Fairbanks and extending to the

The Washington State Department of Commerce committed $14.5 million in grants to continue expanding access to the internet through digital navigator services. These grants were awarded to three organizations:

The Federal Communications Commission made final funding allocations for the Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program (ACP Outreach Grant Program), and Tribal Competitive Outreach Program (TCOP) Round 2.