Concerns Remain That Many Tribes Won’t Get Broadband Stimulus Funds
The Rural Utilities Service and NTIA have made broadband deployment in Indian Country a top priority, officials with the agencies said Thursday during the Native American Broadband Teleconference. Leaders of the Native American Broadband Association (NABA) previously expressed concerns that Indian applicants got relatively little early funding, in particular from RUS’ Broadband Infrastructure Program (CD Feb 12 p2).
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RUS made five awards to tribal applicants in just the first funding round of the BIP program, while four more have been announced in round two so far, said RUS spokesman Bart Kendrick, a last minute substitute for RUS Administrator Jonathan Adelstein. Kendrick declined to answer questions form the tribal leaders.
While RUS is still evaluating round two awards, “we're pleased with how round two is going, particularly in terms of tribal participation,” Kendrick said. RUS has announced 230 awards so far, worth $3 billion, with final announcements expected in the next few weeks, he said. RUS made a “concerted effort” to reach out to the tribes on its broadband stimulus program, with 19 workshops on the program across the U.S. and six events “specifically targeting tribes and minority groups,” Kendrick said. RUS officials attended a number of tribal conferences as well and held a “listening session” with tribal leaders last November in Washington. “We believe these outreach efforts really helped,” he said.
RUS is also committed to increasing the number of RUS rural development awards that go to native groups beyond the BIP program, for example, the broadband program created by the farm bill, Kendrick said. “With the spotlight of the Recovery Act on our broadband program, more rural communities and businesses have begun to take notice of RUS as a source for low-cost loans and grants for rural broadband infrastructure,” he said. “We hope tribes continue to stay engaged and look at our existing programs."
Angela Simpson, advisor to NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling, provided a less-complete report on how tribes have fared under BTOP. Simpson highlighted a $32 million BTOP grant that went to the Navaho Tribal Utility Authority in the first award round. “We were also able to fund several projects that benefit multiple tribal entities, in terms of increasing infrastructure, providing public computer center resources and targeting digital literacy training and broadband adoption among the native American population,” she said. So far in the second funding round, NTIA has announced a $7.1 million award to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, a $1.6 grant to the Nez Perce Tribe and $3.4 million grant to the Menominee Nation to upgrade and expand public computer services, Simpson said.
"NTIA is very proud of the benefits that the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program … is able to bring to Native Americans,” Simpson said. “We've been very pleased with the level of tribal involvement and coordination that we've seen in many of the applications.” NTIA has to complete the award process by Sept. 20, she said. “We expect to keep announcing awards on a rolling basis over the next several weeks."
By her firm’s count, individual tribes and tribal groups filed 26 BIP applications in the second funding round, said Heather Dawn, attorney with Thompson, Sonnenschein. Also, there were 23 tribal applicants for the various parts of the BTOP program in the second round and five have been funded so far, she said. In both cases, this is only a “small percentage” of applicants, she noted.
"There’s still a great deal of concern in Indian Country that broadband needs are not going to be met through the economic stimulus funds,” Dawn said. “Granted we still have about a month left of announcements, but there is no doubt that not all of these tribes will be receiving these funds and we do know that Indian Country has some of the greatest needs.”
"There is still is a lot of hope in Indian Country that because many of the applications that were made are smaller … they may be a little more difficult [for the agencies] to decide on,” NABA President Mark Pruner said in an interview. “Hopefully, they'll be funded in the last round of announcements.” Pruner said the application process itself helped tribes assess their broadband needs. “Tribes have done a lot of work getting these plans together,” he said. “It’s not wasted work. They now know what needs to be done. … They have plans. They have a budget. Now they just need to figure out a way to get those plans funded.”