Tribal Broadband Resources

Updated 02/22/2022: Broadband is critical for Indian Country, but it is often unavailable. In 2019, the American Indian Policy Institute (AIPI) found that 18 percent of Tribal reservation residents have no Internet access, while 33 percent rely on smartphones for Internet service. Even where broadband is available, the cost can be a barrier to access. It is crucial that Tribal communities have broadband access for education, work, and healthcare, all of which will be more accessible via the Affordable Connectivity Program.

The Affordable Connectivity Program  provides benefits for a single Internet connection per home and will allow eligible households to receive a monthly discount on broadband access from their Internet provider. The provider may also offer broadband devices at a discount. It is important to check with your provider to see if they are participating. The program is now accepting applications, with participating providers. Also, be sure to keep checking with your Internet service provider for more information.

Apply at ACPbenefit.org

Tribes must exercise their sovereign right to access and utilize this natural resource. Spectrum frequencies are finite and as the internet and technology continues to permeate every life these frequencies will be obtained and held onto by industry because of its intrinsic value. The federal government, as trustee to Tribal Nations, must also understand and address the historical and present-day barriers that prevent tribal participation in spectrum auctions and the inability of tribes to access spectrum through secondary market mechanisms. Providing tribes with access to spectrum licenses provides an opportunity for tribes to construct their own wireless networks or leverage the license to attract service providers to bring telecommunications services to tribal lands for the benefit of their communities and economies.

Printable document on Spectrum Sovereignty and 2.5 GHz.

NTIA ACCESS BROADBAND Report (Dec. 2021)

Native Nations Communications Task Force, Tribal Broadband Report (Nov. 2019)

U.S. Department of Interior, National Tribal Broadband Strategy (Jan. 2021)

U.S. Department of Interior, Expanding Broadband Access (2021)

FCC Broadband Progress/Deployment Reports (1999 - 2021)

Government Accountability Office Report, Tribal Broadband: FCC Should Take Efforts to Promote Tribal Access to Spectrum, GAO-19-668T (Sep. 2019)

FCC Report on Broadband Deployment in Indian Country, Pursuant to the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act of 2018 (May 2019)

Government Accountability Office Report, FCC's Data Overstate Access on Tribal Lands, GAO-18-630 (Sep. 2018)