- Details
- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Economic Development
Tribal Ready, a Native-owned broadband consultancy, has been tapped to lead outreach efforts for the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deploy (BEAD) program in Arizona.
BEAD is a $42 billion dispersal of broadband grant awards to all 50 states and several U.S. territories, the largest investment in broadband in U.S. history. Each state has been tasked by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to allocate their awarded funds through subgrant programs toward improving broadband access.
Arizona received $993.1 million, per the White House’s Internet for All Initiative website. The Arizona State Broadband Office has brought Tribal Ready onboard to ensure the state’s 22 tribes can assess how best to access, if needed, more funding for broadband through BEAD.
The company plans to establish a “respectful and collaborative approach” to understand each tribe’s needs and interest in BEAD funding, per a Tribal Ready statement. That could be important, given that prior Tribal Business News reporting indicates BEAD funding may be difficult for tribes to access.
If tribes can access those funds, it could make up for a significant shortfall in other federal funding for Indigenous connectivity. The NTIA’s own Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program funding opportunities, totaling $3 billion across two rounds, have been “vastly oversubscribed” according to tribal broadband experts.
The tribal outreach initiative in Arizona is an effort to support Tribal sovereignty and ensure that every Tribal community has the opportunity to participate in and benefit from the digital economy, Joe Valandra, CEO and chairman of Tribal Ready, said in a statement. "We look forward to working closely with tribal leaders to identify and address the specific needs of their communities, fostering a future where every Tribal Nation can thrive in the digital age."
