WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has granted
broadband spectrum licenses to 11 Arizona tribes in what FCC Chairman
Ajit Pai called a "major step forward in our efforts to close
the digital divide on tribal lands."
The awards,
announced last week, were the result of a "first of its kind" Rural
Tribal Priority Window that gave tribes the chance to apply for
and receive spectrum licenses at no cost. Those licenses
which can be used for high-speed wireless broadband are usually
auctioned off to the highest bidder.
The licenses "will open the door to economic growth and allow tribal
families to work and learn remotely, access telehealth services,
and stay connected to loved ones," Democratic Rep. Tom O'Halleran
of Sedona said in a statement Wednesday.
The licenses give tribes "exclusive use of up to 117.5 megahertz
of 2.5 GHz (gigahertz) band spectrum" they can use to get their
communities connected. They will also give tribes a potential revenue
stream, making them less dependent on private firms that are not
always interested in developing the infrastructure to extend access
to rural areas.
Tribes will be able to use the licenses to implement broadband
infrastructure themselves or lease the rights to a third-party company
to do the work. Either way, they have to meet certain benchmarks
to retain the licenses: Half the population area covered by the
license must have access to service within two years, and 80% within
five.
Tribes may not sell or transfer their licenses before they meet
the benchmarks.
The FCC announced the tribal priority window after tribal representatives
last year complained to Congress that the agency was not doing enough
to close the digital divide on tribal lands a claim backed
up by a report from the Government Accountability Office. The GAO
report said 35 percent of people living on tribal lands lacked access
to broadband in 2018, compared to 8 percent for Americans overall.
"Few communities face the digital connectivity challenges faced
by rural tribes," Pai said in a statement on the license awards.
The National Congress of American Indians this summer hailed the
tribal priority window as "one of the few inexpensive solutions
to overcoming the numerous barriers that have prevented better connection
to tribal areas, as well as preparing them for future high-speed
connections."
The window was open from Feb. 3 to Sept. 2 including a month-long
extension due to the COVID-19 pandemic and gave eligible
rural tribes a shot at applying for broadband licenses before the
rest of the available licenses were auctioned off.
In a Senate hearing last year, Arizona lawmakers promised to keep
the pressure on the FCC, and this week, some applauded the FCC for
its action.
"Increasing access to high-speed broadband improves tribal and
rural communities' access to health care, education, and jobs,"
said Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona in a statement Wednesday.
The FCC granted licenses to 154 tribes of the more than 400 that
applied nationally.
In Arizona, winning tribes were the Colorado River Indian Tribes,
Gila River Indian Community, Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai
Indian Tribe, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, San Carlos Apache Tribe,
Tohono O'odham Nation, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Yavapai-Prescott
Indian Tribe and the Zuni Tribe.
There's still hope for the three Arizona tribes who applied and
did not get licenses this round: the Navajo Nation, Salt River Pima-Maricopa
Indian Community and the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe. The FCC is still
reviewing applications and more licenses are likely to be forthcoming.
O'Halleran, whose rural district includes a large swath of reservation
lands, said in a statement Wednesday that "families across rural
and tribal Arizona
often face the most significant barriers
to digital connectivity."
"This year, the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the digital
divide that rural and tribal communities have struggled with for
years," said O'Halleran.
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