For Immediate Release
May 17, 2023
News Media Contact:
NTIA, Office of Public Affairs, [email protected]
WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today it has awarded grants totaling $4,997,592.68 to 10 Tribes as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP).
With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these new grants bring the total of the program to over $1.77 billion awarded to 157 Tribal entities. Record investments in high-speed internet deployment are a key part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
These grants from President Biden’s Internet for All initiative will help reduce monthly Internet service costs, plan for future Internet infrastructure investments, upgrade network equipment, and purchase devices.
“Internet access is an essential tool—whether it’s accessing vital telemedicine, running a business, or finishing homework,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “The Biden Administration is closing the digital divide on Tribal lands, and this new funding will make an enormous difference in Tribal communities across eight states.”
“Tribal communities have a wealth of culture and knowledge to share with the world,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson. “These grants will expand affordable and reliable high-speed Internet service for Tribal households across the U.S. This connectivity will help Tribes preserve traditions and fully participate in the modern digital economy.”
This award is part of the Biden Administration’s commitment to nation-to-nation engagement and an effort to connect everyone in America, including Native Americans and Alaskan Natives, to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service.
The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program is a nearly $3 billion grant program and part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All Initiative. The funds are made available from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ($2 billion) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 ($980 million). The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a historic $65 billion in funding to connect everyone in America.
These grants are part of the TBCP’s equitable distribution process in recognition of the federal Indian trust responsibility and fiduciary obligation to Tribal governments. This process, also laid out in statute and in NTIA’s first TBCP Notice of Funding Opportunity, is intended to ensure that program funding is available to all eligible federally recognized Tribal governments who had a qualifying application. The grants listed below allow for Tribal communities to move forward in planning for future high-speed Internet infrastructure projects or promoting Internet use and adoption.
In the next few months, NTIA will release a second Notice of Funding Opportunity for an additional round of funding from the TBCP program.
What They're Saying
A diverse group of stakeholders have offered their support for these grants. Click below to read their statements.
This investment is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which is growing the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to expanding access to high-speed Internet service, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
Hoonah Indian Association
Applicant |
Location |
Project Type |
Funding Amount |
Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoonah Indian Association | AK | Broadband Use and Adoption |
$500,000.00 |
This Broadband Use and Adoption project proposes to increase broadband speeds and capacity to deliver 100 Mbps down/50 Mbps up to the Technology Center to serve the community. |
Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians
Applicant |
Location |
Project Type |
Funding Amount |
Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians | CA | Broadband Use and Adoption |
$500,000.00 |
This Broadband Use and Adoption project will offset the costs of increasing the speed of Internet service to 314 Tribal households for 5 years to 100 Mbps/100 Mbps with a latency of 50 ms through a contract with Frontier Communications of America, Inc. This will enable Tribal members to actively participate in distance learning activities, work remotely, and access needed telemedicine services. |
Ewiiaapaayp of Kumeyaay Indians
Applicant |
Location |
Project Type |
Funding Amount |
Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ewiiaapaayp of Kumeyaay Indians | CA | Planning, Engineering, Feasibility, and Sustainability |
$500,000.00 |
This Planning, Engineering, Feasibility, and Sustainability Studies project for the Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians (EBKI)’s will perform pre-construction activities, including an environmental RFP, NEPA study, engineering designs and permits, and an RFP for a fiber network construction contractor in preparation to install a future broadband network. |
Guidiville Indian Rancheria
Applicant |
Location |
Project Type |
Funding Amount |
Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guidiville Indian Rancheria | CA | Broadband Use and Adoption & Planning, Engineering, Feasibility, and Sustainability |
$500,000.00 |
This Planning, Engineering, Feasibility, and Sustainability project will fund preconstruction activities that will provide future fiber broadband service to 20 Tribal households and six Tribal businesses. This Broadband Use and Adoption project will prepay broadband service for 115 Tribal members for a period of two years. |
Seminole Tribe of Florida
Applicant |
Location |
Project Type |
Funding Amount |
Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seminole Tribe of Florida | FL | Broadband Use and Adoption |
$499,920.28 |
This Broadband Use and Adoption project will improve digital inclusion for Tribal members by establishing and implementing a Tribal-wide digital training program, providing broadband equipment to support schools, libraries, and workforce development. |
Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake)
Applicant |
Location |
Project Type |
Funding Amount |
Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake) | MI | Broadband Infrastructure Deployment |
$499,999.74 |
The Broadband Infrastructure Deployment project will have a substantial impact in the project area by connecting 17 households that currently lack access to qualifying broadband service (i.e., those not currently receiving Internet service with speeds of 25/3 Mbps or greater). The project is designing the proposed network to connect all of these locations with access to a first-in-class gigabit network offering market-leading speeds of up to 1000 Mbps/500 Mbps with very low latency, transforming the broadband offerings available in the community. |
White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians
Applicant |
Location |
Project Type |
Funding Amount |
Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians | MN | Broadband Use and Adoption |
$500,000.00 |
This Broadband Use and Adoption project will equip 6 community centers/business incubators with computer stations and online training courses for the approximately 3,343 White Earth Tribal Members. |
Chickahominy Indian Tribe
Applicant |
Location |
Project Type |
Funding Amount |
Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chickahominy Indian Tribe | VA | Planning, Engineering, Feasibility, and Sustainability |
$500,000.00 |
This Planning, Engineering, Feasibility, and Sustainability project for the Chickahominy Indian Tribe (CIT) will engage in network planning activities to develop a solution for broadband infrastructure connection, construction, and service deployment for currently unserved Chickahominy households, government properties, and community anchor institutions. |
Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation
Applicant |
Location |
Project Type |
Funding Amount |
Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation | WA | Broadband Infrastructure Deployment |
$498,101.66 |
The Broadband Infrastructure Deployment project proposes to deploy a 1.8-mile fiber connection to connect unserved Tribal government buildings and 46 Tribal homes, and purchase Customer Premises Equipment as part of a 2.5 GHz deployment. Additionally, a service cabinet will be purchased and erected which will provide a means to connect the 1.8-mile project to Phase II, which will prepare the Tribe to improve access to broadband services for all Tribal members with additional funding. |
Stockbridge-Munsee Community
Applicant |
Location |
Project Type |
Funding Amount |
Project Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stockbridge-Munsee Community | WI | Broadband Use and Adoption |
$499,571.00 |
This Broadband Use and Adoption project will aid Native American households, many of whom are low-income families, in overcoming the financial barriers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by providing tablets and prepaid broadband service for one year. |
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About the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is the Executive Branch agency that advises the President on telecommunications and information policy issues. NTIA’s programs and policymaking focus largely on expanding broadband Internet access and adoption in America, expanding the use of spectrum by all users, advancing public safety communications, and ensuring that the Internet remains an engine for innovation and economic growth.