Taking further steps to close the digital divide, the Federal Communications Commission has authorized support over the next decade for maintaining, improving and expanding affordable broadband in 44,243 homes and businesses on Tribal lands nationwide.
In most of these Tribal homes and businesses – 37,281 of them – carriers must deliver speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps. The authorization on Tribal lands in 13 states was part of a nationwide authorization of over $4.9 billion in support over the next decade for 455,334 homes and businesses served by 171 carriers in 39 states and American Samoa.
The support is targeted to smaller rural carriers, traditionally known as “rate-of-return” carriers. These carriers agreed this year to accept subsidies based on the FCC’s Alternative Connect America Cost Model, or A-CAM, which provides predictability, rewards efficiency, and provides more value for each taxpayer dollar. The homes and businesses are in sparsely populated rural areas and Tribal lands where the per-location price of deployment and ongoing costs of providing broadband service are high, requiring support from the FCC’s Universal Service Fund to facilitate network improvements and keep rates reasonably comparable to those in urban areas.
Providers will be held accountable to taxpayers and the Commission through an enforceable schedule for delivering improved and expanded service, with the first interim deployment obligation occurring in 2022.
“With this commitment to broadband on Tribal lands over the next decade, carriers get the predictable support they need to close a digital divide that, for too long, has disproportionately separated Native Americans from digital opportunity,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “And taxpayers, who fund this support through a fee on their phone bills, are getting more bang for their buck through this efficient, accountable program.”
Following is a list of Tribal lands, by state, where companies will receive support, and the number of homes and businesses supported (locations):
Arizona: 5,236 total
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Reservation: 2 locations
Navajo Nation Off-Reservation Trust Land: 7 locations
Navajo Nation Reservation: 1,477 locations
Salt River Reservation: 627 locations
Tohono O’odham Nation Reservation: 3,123 locations
Maine: 47 total
Passamaquoddy Trust Land: 47 locations
Michigan: 391 total
L’Anse Off-Reservation Trust Land: 5 locations
L’Anse Reservation: 386 locations
Minnesota: 5,598 total
Leech Lake Reservation: 2,913 locations
Minnesota Chippewa Trust Land: 1 location
Red Lake Reservation: 1,932 locations
White Earth Off-Reservation Trust Land: 7 locations
White Earth Reservation: 745 locations
Mississippi: 156 total
Mississippi Choctaw Off-Reservation Trust Land: 1 location
Mississippi Choctaw Reservation: 155 locations
Montana: 4,730 locations
Blackfeet Indian Reservation: 185 locations
Crow Off-Reservation Trust Land: 3 locations
Crow Reservation: 1,287 locations
Fort Peck Indian Reservation: 3,247 locations
Turtle Mountain Off-Reservation Trust Land: 8 locations
North Dakota: 3,930 total
Lake Traverse Reservation: 90 locations
Spirit Lake Reservation: 1,427 locations
Turtle Mountain Off-Reservation Trust Land: 722 locations
Turtle Mountain Reservation: 1,691 locations
Nebraska: 57 total
Omaha Reservation: 57 locations
Oklahoma: 10,559 total
Caddo-Wichita-Delaware OTSA: 2,377 locations
Cherokee OTSA: 1,560 locations
Cheyenne-Arapaho OTSA: 157 locations
Chickasaw OTSA: 1,550 locations
Choctaw OTSA: 2,596 locations
Creek OTSA: 1,530 locations
Kiowa-Comanche-Apache-Fort Sill Apache OTSA: 789 locations
South Dakota: 12,506 total
Cheyenne River Reservation: 41 locations
Crow Creek Reservation: 705 locations
Lake Traverse Reservation: 2,964 locations
Lower Brule Reservation: 284 locations
Pine Ridge Reservation: 4,805 locations
Rosebud Indian Reservation: 2,812 locations
Rosebud Off-Reservation Trust Land: 467 locations
Standing Rock Reservation: 111 locations
Yankton Reservation: 317 locations
Utah: 85 total
Goshute Reservation: 58 locations
Uintah and Ouray Reservation: 27 locations
Wisconsin: 640 total
Ho-Chunk Nation Off-Reservation Trust Land: 7 locations
Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation: 633 locations
Wyoming: 308 total
Wind River Reservation: 308 total
