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- By Chez Oxendine
- Economic Development
Two new grants to tribes in Minnesota and New Mexico bring the total amount awarded by the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to $1.75 billion spread across 135 tribal entities.
The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota received $11 million to help construct a 185.5 mile network combining “middle-mile” technology, such as fiber line, and “last mile” technology, such as fixed wireless access points. The project will connect 356 unserved Native American households, seven unserved Native businesses, and 10 unserved community institutions.
“It is in the spirit of continued partnership, collaboration, and community that Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is honored to accept this award,” said Maria Costello, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Assistant Commissioner of Administration.
In New Mexico, the Pueblo of Acoma received $14.3 million to deploy an 18 mile network, as well as a 2,000 square-foot network operations center as a base for network maintenance, workforce development training, customer equipment, and maintenance equipment. The project will bring more than 1167 unserved Native households online, per the project summary posted to the grant’s website.
“The Pueblo of Acoma is very honored to receive the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Grant, which will help advance the tribe's technological environment, improve communication, and provide reliable internet services for our people,” said Douglas Patricio, 2nd Lt. Governor for the Pueblo of Acoma, in a statement. “The days of poor to no-service availability will be a thing of the past, and we can catch up with today's technology.”
Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) called the funding crucial for allowing tribes in New Mexico to keep up with rapidly more necessary technologies such as distance learning, telehealth, and remote work.
“I’m glad to welcome this critical investment of more than $14 million to help install a reliable internet connection to over 1,100 homes,” Lujan said in a statement. “We cannot afford to leave communities like the Pueblo of Acoma without basic necessities like a stable internet connection, which provides essential access to work, further education, and telehealth services.”
The newest awards nearly exhaust the initial funding opportunity for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, which has been administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Agency. The program began with $980 million awarded under the American Rescue Plan Act, while the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, added a further $2 billion to the pot.
Notably, the NTIA split up the subsequent $2 billion by adding half to the existing, massively oversubscribed initial funding opportunity and using the remaining $1 billion for an as-yet-unannounced second funding opportunity.
