The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has announced 17 awards totaling about $8.39 million in the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). The awards will support Tribal lands in California, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma and Washington.
The awards by the NTIA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, bring the total awarded in the program to more than $1.77 billion. The funding will support 183 Tribal entities.
The program draws from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ($2 billion) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 ($980 million). The NTIA will release a second Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) during the next few months.
The awards:
California:
- Colusa Indian Community Council, broadband infrastructure deployment, $481,533.85
- Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians (aka Chumash Indians): planning, engineering, feasibility and sustainability, $500,000
- Bishop Paiute Tribe: planning, engineering, feasibility and sustainability, $499,935.50
- Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation: broadband infrastructure deployment & planning, engineering, feasibility and sustainability, $500,000
Nevada:
- Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone broadband infrastructure deployment & planning, engineering, feasibility and sustainability, $500,000
New Mexico:
- Pueblo of Tesuque, planning, engineering, feasibility and sustainability, $413,479.00
- Ohkay Owingeh: broadband use and adoption, $500,000
New York:
- The Seneca Nation of Indians, broadband infrastructure deployment, $500,000
- Mohawk Networks, LLC, broadband infrastructure deployment, $499,999.22
Oklahoma:
- Wichita & Affiliated Tribes, broadband infrastructure deployment, $500,000
- Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, planning, engineering, feasibility and sustainability, $500,000
- Ponca Tribe of broadband infrastructure deployment, $500,000
- Muscogee (Creek) Nation, planning, engineering, feasibility and sustainability, $500,000
Washington:
- Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, broadband infrastructure deployment, $500,000
- Quinault Indian Nation, broadband infrastructure deployment, $500,000
- Hoh Indian Tribe, planning, engineering, feasibility and sustainability, $500,000
Wisconsin:
- Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, broadband infrastructure deployment, $500,000
On January 31, the NTIA announced awards of $500,000 to the Passamaquoddy at Pleasant Point as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). The reservation is in Maine.
