More Broadband on the Horizon for Indian Country

Tribal communities have some of the lowest broadband penetration rates in the country — some, in fact, don’t have it at all. But that will likely change as the federal government executes its plan to double the amount of commercial wireless spectrum that is currently available.

In a Presidential Memorandum issued on June 28, President Obama outlined how federal agencies will work together to free up 500 MHz of federal and non-federal spectrum over the next 10 years.

The memorandum directs the FCC, in collaboration with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, to develop a specific plan and timetable for identifying and making the spectrum available by Oct. 1, 2010.

The memorandum is one part of a four-point plan developed by the Obama Administration to increase spectrum, which is part of the broader National Broadband Plan. Other steps include enacting legislation to facilitate the transition; taking inventory of the spectrum now in use; and developing tools that allow spectrum to be used more efficiently (tapping into underutilized spectrum and spectrum-sharing technologies).

Once the spectrum is freed up — and some may be available within the next five years — most will be auctioned off for licensed mobile broadband. Some, though, will be available for free for unlicensed use.

The need for additional spectrum is undeniable. In recent years, according to the White House, the amount of information flowing over some wireless networks has grown at more than 250 percent per year. Over the next five years, the amount could be 20 to 45 times what it was in 2009.

The need for broadband in tribal communities is undeniable too. Here the penetration rate is estimated at less than 10 percent.

Loris Ann Taylor, executive director of Native Public Media, said, “Freeing up spectrum for tribal-centric deployment in Indian Country can provide great opportunities for information systems, technology start ups, mobile use and connectivity for residential and anchor institutions. This, in turn, could spur critically needed jobs and other economic and social benefits for Native Americans.”

As tribes are included in the National Broadband Plan, it’s important that they are part of its implementation. In early June, the FCC established a Native Nations Broadband Task Force to assist the agency in increasing broadband deployment and adoption in Indian Country. Then on June 22, the FCC appointed Geoffrey Blackwell, a tribal economic infrastructure expert, to work with tribes in carrying out the plan’s recommendations for bringing broadband to all tribal communities. He will also oversee the new task force and establish an Office of Tribal Affairs.

On the spectrum-freeing initiative, Taylor said, “Tribal consultation will be critical to the White House effort; and, as a result, it is critically important that the new Office of Tribal Affairs at the FCC is fully staffed and budgeted to help guide tribes’ inter-governmental involvement as wireless spectrum is freed up.”

Report Spotlights Deplorable State of Broadband in Indian Country

Broadband penetration in Indian Country is estimated at less than 10 percent, according to a report by Native Public Media and the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative.

The report, titled New Media, Technology and Internet Use in Indian Country: Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses and released on Nov. 19, includes a survey of Native American technology use normed against other national surveys as well as case studies of six successful projects, efforts to close the digital divide on tribal lands.

Native Americans live in communities where broadband often is unavailable or unaffordable, a press release announcing the report stated. Adding to the problem is a lack of data on Native broadband adoption, availability and connectivity.

Loris Taylor, executive director of Native Public Media, said in the release, "I've visited Native communities where Internet black holes exist because broadband deployment either ignored them or simply went around them. For the first time in history, we have solid broadband data that underscores the fact that Native Americans are using the Internet when they have access to it and building their own tribal centric broadband highways when no one else will.”

To view the report, click here.

Media Blueprint Projects Documenting Media Tech in Indian Country

Native Public Media, a resource and advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening and expanding Native American media capacity, has launched the Media Blueprint Project in an effort to document and expand the state of media technology in Indian Country.

Funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Benton Foundation, the project’s eventual goal is to build infrastructure that will enable tribal communities to utilize broadband technology. Read more at American Indian Report.