{"id":38806,"date":"2025-06-13T02:53:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T07:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/ost-broadband-coverage-continues-to-expand\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T02:53:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T07:53:09","slug":"ost-broadband-coverage-continues-to-expand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/ost-broadband-coverage-continues-to-expand\/","title":{"rendered":"OST broadband coverage continues to expand"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>
\"Broadband<\/a><\/p>\n

Broadband coming soon to Oglala Lakota Nation. (Stock photo)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

PINE RIDGE\u2014In an era when reliable internet is essential to economic survival and educational success, vast stretches of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have remained digitally dark. That\u2019s changing\u2014fast.<\/p>\n

The Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) has launched a multi-pronged broadband initiative that may be one of the most ambitious tribal connectivity campaigns in the country. Armed with more than $60 million in federal grants and a unified vision of digital sovereignty, OST is forging a new era of infrastructure self-reliance\u2014one tower, one fiber line, one household at a time.<\/p>\n

At the center of this movement is Oglala Lakota Telecommunications, LLC (OLT), a tribally owned and operated company tasked with bringing modern internet to the farthest reaches of the 3,400 square mile reservation. Headed by enrolled tribal member and IT veteran Randy Hughes, the company has grown from concept to fully staffed operation in a couple of years\u2014and is already delivering service through pilot programs while building toward full reservation coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe competitors had their chance to serve us,\u201d Hughes said in an interview. \u201cThey didn\u2019t. Now we are stepping up and doing it ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first tangible step in this transformation is the Internet Access Project, a pilot effort distributing 800 Starlink satellite kits to Oglala Sioux tribal households currently without internet access. The kits\u2014offered free of charge\u2014 allow rural households to leapfrog traditional infrastructure and gain high-speed service via low-orbit satellite.<\/p>\n

To qualify, the head of household must be an enrolled OST member and must complete a verification process through OLT. Recipients are responsible for the $90 monthly service fee, but for many, this offers the first realistic chance at reliable internet.<\/p>\n

Customer Service Representatives will also guide applicants toward more affordable options under the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).<\/p>\n

This is triage\u2014getting families online while long-term infrastructure comes online.<\/p>\n

While the Starlink rollout offers immediate relief, it is only a stopgap. The real muscle behind OST\u2019s broadband revolution lies in the pair of major federal grants the Tribe has secured over the past year:<\/p>\n

1. $19.6 million from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP)<\/p>\n

2. $35 million from the ReConnect Program under the U.S. Department of Agriculture<\/p>\n

The TBCP funds are being deployed to construct a wireless broadband backbone across the reservation. The technical scope is formidable:<\/p>\n

\u2022 15 RAN sites (radio access network stations)<\/p>\n

\u2022 10 microwave links for signal backhaul<\/p>\n

\u2022 93 miles of fiber optic lines between key communities<\/p>\n

\u2022 New towers capable of withstanding the punishing winds of the High Plains<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the ReConnect funds will lay direct fiber to 3,300 residents, 47 businesses, 55 farms, and seven educational institutions in communities like Wounded Knee, Batesland, Porcupine, and Manderson. When completed, many homes will have internet as fast and reliable as any major U.S. city.<\/p>\n

Behind the fiber cables and satellite dishes is a deeper mission: sovereignty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, the U.S. promised us \u2018works of utility,\u2019\u201d Hughes said. \u201cIn today\u2019s world, that includes broadband.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tribal attorney Mario Gonzalez agrees, citing case law that instructs treaties must be interpreted in the context of modern life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just about speed,\u201d Hughes adds. \u201cIt\u2019s about self-determination. It\u2019s about making sure every child can learn online, every elder can access telehealth, and every entrepreneur can build a future right here at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hughes and OLT are partnering with the Cheyenne River Telephone Authority (CRTA)\u2014the country\u2019s oldest tribal telco\u2014to guide their development. The CRTA has served the Cheyenne River Reservation for over 65 years, offering a proven template for tribal-run telecom success.<\/p>\n

The collaboration, formalized through a Memorandum of Agreement, brings technical support and institutional knowledge to the OST effort, ensuring the infrastructure is not only built\u2014but maintained and grown with tribal oversight.<\/p>\n

OLT currently employs 13 staff members, all enrolled members of OST, with more hiring planned. Hughes says the goal is not just connectivity, but \u2013\u201cdigital inclusion\u201d\u2014 helping tribal citizens gain the skills, equipment, and support needed to thrive online.<\/p>\n

That means everything from job training to device access to IT literacy workshops.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re putting Oglala to work on our digital future,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n

And that digital future won\u2019t be subcontracted out to faceless providers. \u201cWe\u2019re not just the customer anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re the provider.\u201d<\/p>\n

Internet access on Pine Ridge has long been a patchwork of promises and neglect. Vast areas\u2014especially on the western and southern stretches\u2014have never had reliable service. For years, families cobbled together cell boosters, public Wi-Fi drives, and slow DSL lines that barely supported email, let alone Zoom classrooms or telemedicine.<\/p>\n

Then came COVID. Suddenly, the broadband gap turned deadly\u2014 isolating elders, disconnecting students, and gutting access to basic services. It was a reckoning, and one OST has not forgotten.<\/p>\n

Thanks to ARPA funds, NTIA grants, and the determination of OST leadership, the reckoning is now turning into restoration.<\/p>\n

The initial fixed wireless site at Wakpamni Lake\/Batesland, is already under construction and expected to deliver high-speed service to 168 homes and businesses within weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have some homes connected this spring,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cIt\u2019s not five years away. It\u2019s happening now.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Hughes and OLT have their way, in a few years every home on Pine Ridge will have highspeed internet, phone service, and television\u2014on par with anything in Rapid City, Denver, or Minneapolis. And it will be provided by a tribally chartered company, accountable to the community it serves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t a federal project. This is an Oglala project,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s just getting started.<\/p>\n

(James Giago Davies is an enrolled member of the OST. Contact him at skindiesel@msn.com)<\/span> <\/p>\n

The post OST broadband coverage continues to expand<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Broadband coming soon to Oglala Lakota Nation. (Stock photo) PINE RIDGE\u2014In an era when reliable internet is essential to economic survival and educational success, vast stretches of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have remained digitally dark. That\u2019s changing\u2014fast. The Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) has launched a multi-pronged broadband initiative that <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> June 13, 2025<\/p>\n

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