Indianz.Com > News > Cronkite News: Tribes face challenges in securing broadband grants
Vicious circle: Tribal broadband program hindered by lack of broadband
Friday, January 14, 2022
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tribal advocates told a Senate panel this week the federal government’s effort to fund expanded broadband infrastructure in Indian Country overlooked a fundamental issue.
Many tribes did not have the broadband access needed to apply for the funding that would let them improve broadband access.
Information about the first round of grants was available only online, and tribes were encouraged to apply online in a 90-day window during the pandemic. The upshot, said Matthew Rantanen, was that only about half of all eligible tribal communities applied for the funding.
“Some of the tribes didn’t get enough of the information about it or didn’t have access already, which we know they don’t have access to broadband,” said Rantanen, the co-chair of the National Congress of American Indians Subcommittee on Technology and Telecommunications.
Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News. It is published via a Creative Commons license. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
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