The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded nine grants as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. These grants, totaling more than $7.7 million, are being awarded in six states – Alaska, California, Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Washington.
These grants will fund projects that promote high-speed internet use and adoption that will enable communities to access and fully use resources that will connect them to education, healthcare, and employment. The funds can also be used to conduct planning, engineering, feasibility, and sustainability projects and to expand digital inclusion, workforce, and digital skills development.
For example, Pawnee Nation College in Oklahoma will establish a student technology grant and computer lab on its campus. This computer lab will increase campus-wide internet services and equipment and expand the digital communications curriculum. Meanwhile, the Suquamish Tribe of Port Madison Reservation in Washington State is using its grant to develop workforce training and digital literacy programs aimed at increasing digital inclusion among Tribal members.
“The pandemic demonstrated just how difficult it is to participate in our modern economy without access to reliable high-speed internet. These grants will provide crucial resources to tribal communities working to ensure everyone can use the internet to attend classes, visit a doctor or run a business,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “We look forward to supporting these Tribal Nations in building capacity and expanding their communities’ access to the internet.”
“Across the country, Tribal Nations have been disconnected from essential internet services for far too long,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. “These awards will allow Tribal communities to provide the necessary resources their members need to thrive in our evolving digital economy.”
The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, which was funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, makes $980 million available for grants to eligible Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian entities for broadband deployment, digital inclusion, workforce development, telehealth, and distance learning.
NTIA has now made a total of 43 awards totaling more than $91 million in funding through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. NTIA received more than 300 applications during the application window, which closed on September 1, 2021. The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program will announce additional awards on a rolling basis as they move through NTIA’s review process. Find more information about the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program on the BroadbandUSA website.
Reader Interactions