Tribes awarded $120 million to Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program

PINE RIDGE—Eventually, all of America will transition to a broadband reality, but to this point, remote reservation locations have left millions of Native Americans without reliable service.

On Tuesday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced that seven grants have been awarded to tribes totaling $120 million. Two South Dakota tribes received grants, the Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST), $20 million, and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, $50 million. A knowledgeable source told NSNT that the Pine Ridge total is not set, and could go as high as $75 million.

OST President Kevin Killer said, “It just shows the disparity of how this internet and how this broadband is kind of laid out.But it’s also making sure that we as a tribal nation…we’re ready to kind of step forward and in a new direction.”

Rosebud Tribal President, Scott Harmon said, “I really think it’s a good thing for our Rosebuds. We have 20 communities and we have such a large land based tribe that we can’t reach everyone with the providers we have.”

Andy Berke, Special Representative for Broadband at the National Transportation and Information Administration said, “This is a transformative moment where we will start thinking about internet much more as water and electricity and roads, rather than like a luxury,”

As time passes more and more members of the generations who came of age with land lines and traditional forms of 20th Century communication and information access will be replaced by Zoomers who have never known anything but the Internet Age. For them, the internet is not just a toy or dalliance, but the core utility tool they use to navigate their everyday lives, to shop, pay bills, work their job, do their banking.

A 2019 Federal Communications Commission report stated that 32 percent of those living on reservations do not have high speed internet access, compared to seven percent of the general population, but all across America, rural areas have poor coverage compared to urban areas.

The ability of reservation schools to take advantage of internet opportunities is hampered by the lack of broadband access, not only when the children are attending classes, but at home, in generally more remote locations, there is difficulty in completing assignments that require high speed internet access

It is estimated that over 3,300 families will be connected to the internet due to this award.

David Kolko, Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs wrote in 2012 that there is a positive correlation between broadband access and local economic development. While tribal economies lagged far behind the national level before the Internet Age, they are currently lagging just as far behind during it.

In addition to connecting tribes to broadband, costs will be significantly lowered for tribal members.

(Contact James Giago Davies at skindiesel@msn.com)

 

 

 

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