How Commerce Continues to Connect Indian Country
How Commerce Continues to Connect Indian Country US Department of Commerce
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Improving Connectivity on Tribal Lands through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP)
In 2021, during Native American Heritage Month, President Biden signed the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) which provided over $65 billion to bring affordable, high-speed internet to every American. This funding also added an additional $2 billion to the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) for broadband deployment on Tribal lands, as well as for telehealth, education, broadband affordability, and digital inclusion.
The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP)
Administered by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA), the TBCP is improving connectivity on Tribal lands – including for Robyn Johnson, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
- TBCP is improving connectivity on Tribal lands
- Robyn Johnson, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, benefited from the program
Robyn is a teacher who could not afford fast and reliable internet service which hindered her high school and elementary school-aged children from attending classes online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Robyn had to schedule who was going to be online at what times. Thanks to a grant provided by the TBCP to the Tribe’s Internet Service Provider, Robyn was able to afford faster and more reliable internet service. This allowed her the ability to do her work and her children to do their schoolwork without overloading the bandwidth.
Progress and Future Opportunities
Today 226 Tribal entities have received more than $1.86 billion in grants to support reliable, affordable high-speed Internet networks as well as devices and digital skills training on Tribal lands. In July, NTIA announced a second Notice of Funding Opportunity totaling nearly $1 billion. Applications are due January 23, 2024.
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