The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) has received more than $72 million from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to expand high-speed Internet access and adoption in Native Hawaiian households. The NTIA Tribal Broadband Hawaii award will be used for Internet infrastructure deployment and Internet adoption projects to connect unserved Native Hawaiian households to broadband.
Among planned infrastructure investments are:
- More than $26.1 million to deploy middle mile fiber optic lines to Hawaiian homestead communities;
- More than $15.45 million to construct community digital innovation centers to be used for digital workforce development training and digital literacy training courses; and
- An unspecified amount to manage wireless telecommunications towers across the state.
Tribal Broadband Hawaii
Grant funds will also be used for adoption and use activities, including:
- Offering digital literacy skills classes to Native Hawaiians across several of the Hawaiian Islands;
- Purchasing and providing those participants with computers;
- Providing in-person workforce development opportunities to equip them with expertise, hands-on experience, and certifications in the telecommunications sector; and
- Creating new Outreach Coordinators for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
This is the first award from the second round of funding in the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, which has nearly $1 billion available for the deployment of Internet infrastructure on Tribal Lands, affordability programs, telehealth and distance learning initiatives.
“Access to affordable, reliable Internet is not a luxury – it’s a necessity,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a prepared statement. “That’s why this historic investment to connect Tribal communities is so important. This award will ensure that Native Hawaiians have the Internet connections they need to take advantage of digital opportunities for work, education, health care, and other essential services.”
