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- By Chez Oxendine
- Economic Development
A Native-owned communications consultancy has launched a partnership with Milpitas, Calif.-based broadband manufacturer Terana in a bid to speed up wireless connectivity installations on tribal lands.
Ashland, Ore.-based EnerTribe, Inc. announced it plans to employ Terana’s Gigabit 1 platform, a fixed wireless solution that translates a fiber connection into a wireless connection over a wide area, in a project targeting the Round Valley Indian Tribes in Covelo Valley, Calif.
The Gigabit 1 platform uses “next generation fixed wireless access” technology, or “ngFWA.” This technology better balances the burden of signal processing between base stations and consumer equipment while reducing interference along unlicensed wireless spectrum, per a release by trade publication The Fast Mode.
An updated wireless solution will improve connectivity for the tribes’ health center and, by extension, telehealth for their customers — a crucial facet of post-COVID-19 life.
“We are excited about our partnership and go-to-market strategy with Tarana,” said EnerTribal CEO Forest James in a statement. “As a tribal member myself, I see the dramatic, positive impact that reliable broadband can have for the entire community, whether that is remote work, telehealth, education, or internet connectivity in general. The Tarana G1 product will enable EnerTribe to bring reliable, high-speed internet to the tribal communities that need it so crucially.”
Fixed wireless solutions have proven popular in Indian Country as tribes work to efficiently leverage a historic flow of federal, state and philanthropic funding intended to close the digital divide. Wireless access can save millions of dollars compared to installing new fiber lines over the “last mile” to especially rural locations, but uneven topography over vast distances makes getting a consistent signal to farthest flung residents tricky.
EnerTribe chose Terana as a partner in rolling out new wireless solutions because their Gigabit 1 platform works to overcome those challenges, purportedly creating a stronger signal with more consistent, fiber-like speeds for the end user, according to a company statement.
Tarana has turned its technology primarily toward building connectivity in unserved and underserved regions, which made the company a good match for EnerTribe’s ongoing efforts to bring tribes — 46 percent of which remain offline as of this writing — into the modern era, the company said in a statement. Round Valley Indian Tribe’s project is just the beginning, Tarana wrote.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with EnerTribe on such significant projects. EnerTribe’s focus on providing broadband and other essential infrastructure to indigenous communities is well-aligned with our mission to enable connectivity in un- and under-served regions,” said Terana president Dirk Gates. ”We are excited about the prospects for our partnership, which will expand quality internet access to the Round Valley Indian Tribes and beyond.”
