From homework to job applications, the value of high-speed internet access has only become more prevalent in the 21st century. Now, the Biden-Harris Administration is looking to plug some of the nation’s biggest coverage gaps.
With rural and remote Americans often behind the technological curve, and the geographic reality of Native American reservations, high-speed internet has been slow to reach every corner of the country. A 2021 report from the South Dakota Public Utilities commission showed some areas on the state's reservation lacked high-speed internet access.
PaaWee Rivera is the director of tribal affairs for the Biden Administration. He explained the president's rationale in pushing for the near billion-dollar investment.
“Access to high-speed internet is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity to fully participate in today’s society," Rivera said. "This second round of funding from the tribal broadband connectivity program will make approximately $980 million available for Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities for deployment of internet infrastructure on tribal lands.”
Assistant secretary of commerce Alan Davidson said trial entities have until January to apply for funding.
“These funds will support high-speed infrastructure deployment as well as use in adoption activities," Davidson said. "Those activities will include affordable broadband programs, distance learning, telehealth, digital inclusion programs, and broadband adoption.”
Davidson was asked about the financial weight of bringing fiber to some of the least-connected areas of the nation. He said while bearing costs in mind, their goal is to connect everyone in America with high-speed internet.
“In part because of the challenges that are faced by remoteness, rugged terrain, low population densities, that’s very much part of what drives the cost of these programs, and we believe that’s why Congress made sure to make these special allocations," Davidson said. "The fact is we know when we push out fiber into some of these communities for example, it provides the infrastructure that will be used for other programs in the future.”
Projections said this investment could bring new connections to nearly 150,000 households on tribal lands. Officials don’t yet have a breakdown of state-by-state data.