The Department of Commerce’s NTIA https://www.ntia.doc.gov has kicked off the Tribal Broadband Leaders Network, to expand connectivity on Tribal lands.
More than 130 participants representing more than 70 Tribes attended the first network meeting in October 2022. Tribal leaders will be able to share priorities and best practices, discuss emerging telecommunications policy issues, identify engagement strategies with state broadband leaders, and improve communication time between Tribes and the federal government.
The new Tribal Broadband Leaders Network will host monthly meetings with Tribal leaders and those authorized to speak on their behalf. Invitations to join the network were sent to Tribal leaders across the country.
The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) is a nearly $3 billion grant program. NTIA has made a total of 94 awards totaling more than $1.35 billion in funding through the TBCP program.
These awards were made in an effort to connect everyone in the U.S. including American Indians and Natives with affordable, reliable, high speed internet. NTIA also maintains a Tribal Nations Resources page with links to award resources, past Tribal consultations, and other relevant resources.
One of the awards was made to the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona for $4,447,345 for the Broadband Use and Adoption Project to improve access to and use of broadband services among Pima and Maricopa Tribal members in Pinal and Maricopa counties.
The Gila River Broadband network expansion will assist in telehealth expansion, distance learning opportunities, provide affordable broadband services, produce economic growth, and make efforts to include digital efforts where demand for internet access has grown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project’s expected outcome is to expand access to broadband adoption activities that include telehealth, distance learning, workforce development, and provide affordable broadband programs. The project will expand broadband adoption and use across 580 miles of Reservation land and expected to benefit approximately 12,000 individuals.
Go to https://broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov/tribal-broadband-connectivity-program-awardees for a list of awardees and the amount of grant funding from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP).
Go to https://www.broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov/resources/tribal-nations for NTIA’s Tribal Nations Resource page.