This is an important reminder that the deadline for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) is coming up tomorrow, September 1 at 11:59 PM PDT. This is a statutory deadline and cannot be modified. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) held a TBCP webinar on August 24, 2021, in which they highlighted the following points:
Broadband
Image Credit: Christopher Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, for the Internet Society
On Monday, June 7, 2021, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) under the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the launch of a new data dashboard which tracks the progress of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB).
This past weekend (June 5th - 7th) I went to the White Earth Nation in Northern Minnesota to witness the Treaty People Gathering on Treaty rights and Tribal sovereignty. This event brought together more than 1,000 people from across the country to learn about Tribal sovereignty, Treaty rights, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) surrounding the Line 3 Pipeline.
Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, and Secretary Gina Raimondo announced the launch of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. The program consists of $1 billion in grants from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and will be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration(NTIA).
Congress ordered the FCC to create a broadband mapping system that empowers community members to challenge insufficient broadband access. They have not done so in “Establishing the Digital Opportunity Data Collection: Modernizing the FCC Form 477 Data Program” (April 2021).
Wow! Broadband is a “thing.” I know, I know, it has been for a while now, but the fact that it still is a thing a year later is remarkable. It may sound silly, but it used to be that broadband was such an esoteric topic only discussed in the realm of computer science and IT. Now, broadband is in the top three topics that are important to Tribal communities, Tribal leaders, and pretty much everyone else. After the pandemic and the lockdown, everything has changed. And as someone who specializes in broadband research, it’s still surprising. But then, the world has changed.
The Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) is a temporary program offered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide affordable access to internet service. The program works with participating internet providers to offer a monthly discount of up to $50 for a single internet connection to qualifying households. This discount may be up to $75 per month for a qualifying household on Tribal lands.
This is an exciting time for Indian Country and for AIPI in support of Tribal needs.
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.