Indigenous Broadband Networks

*If we could not find a unique brand name for the potential or existing network, we have given it the name of the Native nation that owns it.

This page offers a census of Tribally-owned networks, according to our latest research, as well as some key context for understanding efforts to close the digital divide on Tribal lands. Jump to Introduction to Tribal Broadband Networks, Tribal Broadband Policy and Context, and Census of Native Nations' Networks.

Updates or Corrections? Email [email protected]. 

Media Contact: Christopher Mitchell, 612-545-5185

Introduction to Tribal Broadband Networks

Native nations need high-speed Internet access. Broadband development on Tribal lands has long lagged the rates of rural and urban areas. Specific data about the digital divide on Tribal lands can vary from source to source, but studies all agree that the problem is significant. In 2022, the Government Accountability Office reported that 18 percent of people living on Tribal lands lack access to broadband, noting that this figure is a conservative estimate as it relies on older, more error-prone FCC data.

Federal policy failures and incumbent provider neglect are responsible for the lion's share of these inequities. Increasingly, Native nations are beginning to address the digital divide on their own lands and on their own terms. Though the first Tribally-owned telecommunications company, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority (CRSTTA), was established in 1958, for many years there remained only a handful of Tribal telecoms serving their communities. But in the last decade, that has all changed. The number of Native networks has surged, thanks to growing capacity and interest among Tribes and historic broadband funding opportunities.

When we first performed this census, in 2020, we counted around 40 Tribal networks of some kind. Now, that figure has doubled. Our research suggests that there are 80 Tribal networks either selling retail services or operating active institutional networks, with many of those in the process of expanding or upgrading their services. Further, we estimate nearly 50 additional networks will come online soon. Finally, about 55 more Tribes appear to be considering or pursuing opportunities to get into broadband. In short, we are in the midst of unprecedented growth in Tribal broadband. (Please alert us to any errors or omissions.)

There should be no doubt - these networks will be essential to closing the digital divide on Tribal lands.

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Tribal Broadband Policy and Context

Thanks in large part to the dedicated people who spent years building networks and advocating on behalf of Indigenous connectivity, the last several years have opened new policy opportunities for Tribal broadband. 

In 2020, after years of advocacy on the issue of spectrum sovereignty, the Federal Communications Commission opened an opportunity for rural Tribes to claim licenses for part of the 2.5 Ghz spectrum band over their lands. This was called the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window. The FCC is said to have expected in the ballpark of ten applications. They received around 400 - a testament to the enthusiasm among Native nations for broadband access. Tribes across the country are now making use of that spectrum to bring high-speed Internet access to their communities. Still, the fight is not over, not least because Tribal nations near urban areas were not allowed to participate. Advocates continue to argue for Tribal Priority to spectrum and, more broadly, push for a recognition of Tribal sovereignty over the use of spectrum over their lands.

New federal and state funding sources have also helped pave the way for Tribal broadband growth. The federal government stepped up investment in broadband after the pandemic, earmarking significant sums for Tribal funding for the first time. The largest of these funding programs, the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) has awarded nearly $2 billion dollars (with nearly $1 billion more to come) in grants to Tribes for broadband construction and digital equity programs, and has helped launch or expand many of the networks listed below.

However, given that applications to TBCP totaled nearly $9 billion in requests, no one expects this to be enough to close the connectivity gap on Tribal lands. Broadband networks are expensive, and Tribes often face significant financial hurdles to construction caused by larger backhaul costs, low population density, and difficulty securing loans. More remains to be done to put resources in the hands of those who are most committed to, and most knowledgeable about, getting their communities connected.

Tribal broadband advocates continue to push for better government policy that facilitates Tribal innovation and respects Tribal sovereignty. The calls to action issued annually by the Indigenous Connectivity Summit (ICS) are a great window into these policy priorities. Delegates at the 2023 ICS put forth a range of recommendations on shared decision-making and co-management, robust nation-to-nation relationships rooted in Tribal sovereignty, the development of new affordability protections, and spectrum sovereignty. Included was an explicit call for "programs that facilitate [Tribal] abilities to self-govern and administer their own internet networks, should they so desire.” Read the 2023 Indigenous Connectivity Summit Policy Recommendations in full here. 

Other advocacy groups and collaborative efforts remain active in the push for policy change. Of special note is the recent announcement by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the American Indian Policy Institute (AIPI) of the creation of a Center for Tribal Digital Sovereignty, dedicated to supporting digital sovereignty planning through research and technical assistance. In addition, publications from the Native Nations Communications Task Force at the FCC and the National Tribal Telecom Association (NTTA) often offer policy recommendations as well as useful context and practical guidance for Tribal broadband champions.

As more and more of these networks come online, Tribal broadband practitioners are building capacity and community through events like the Tribal Broadband Bootcamps. TBB brings together network operators and advocates from across Indian Country to teach and learn alongside one another, developing their technical skills and making connections that sustain their work. Grassroots trainings like these help spread expertise and fuel the enthusiasm of the Tribal broadband movement. (ILSR is a supporter in the Tribal Broadband Bootcamps.)

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Census of Native Nations' Networks

To be included in our census of Indigenous networks listed below, a Tribe or Tribal entity must own (or plan to own) the network infrastructure. Each of the networks below offers Internet service.* Some also offer video or voice service. The list is divided into three categories:

Active networks

• Currently offering services to user homes, or operating Tribal institutional networks or lit middle mile networks
• May be in the process of expanding footprint, adding retail service, or upgrading technology
• May be operated by a third party if owned by the Native nation

Note: Some of these active broadband networks serve the entire Tribal land base, or near to it. Others currently serve only a portion of the Tribe's reservation and are looking to expand their footprint. Some may additionally serve subscribers off-reservation. We have elected not to list individual communities which the network serves, due to the risk of introducing inaccurate or incomplete information.

Expected networks

• Not offering residential or Institutional services yet, but in building phase or have received infrastructure funding to build
• May intend to be operated by a third party

Prospective networks

• No construction or infrastructure funding yet, but the Native nation has demonstrated an interest in developing broadband or has received planning/feasibility grant

*If we could not find a unique brand name for the network, we have given it the name of the Native nation that owns it. This is true also for prospective networks.

For an in-depth look at how several Native nations have built their own networks, read the report "Building Indigenous Future Zones: Four Tribal Broadband Case Studies" or our reporting on CommunityNets.org.  Please check back for updates. You may contact [email protected] or fill out this form for additions or corrections to this page. This research was performed by Jess Auer and was begun by examining the broadband activities of federally recognized Tribal nations within the contiguous 48 states. Further research to expand this geographic scope is ongoing. This research builds on original work done by H. Trostle with support from Internet Society. Please note that, in most cases, the information offered below is gathered from independent research and does not reflect an official statement of the Tribe or network described.

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Networks

Ak-Chin Indian Community

Network Name: Ak-Chin Indian Community

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless

In 2020, recognizing the significant needs caused by the pandemic, the Ak-Chin Indian Community Council approved a wireless Internet service to be provided to residents free of charge. Home installations began in December of that year. Two years later, Ak-Chin Indian Community was announced as a winner of a large Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant. The grant will allow the Community to replace end-of-life middle mile fiber and deploy an upgraded wireless network.

Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor, Ouzinkie Native Corporation

Network Name: Kodiak Microwave Systems

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://www.oldharbornativecorp.com/company/operating-companies/

Kodiak Microwave Systems is a microwave backhaul network owned by Old Harbor Native Corporation (OHNC) and Ouzinkie Native Corporation. It was launched in 2012, when OHNC recognized the need for telecommunication services on Kodiak Island. Backhaul allows for users on local networks to access the broader Internet. After using its own funds to start the network, KMS later accepted financing from the National Cooperative Bank. Kodiak Microwave Services now has systems that serve the villages of Old Harbor, Port Lions, Ouzinkie, Larsen Bay, and Akhiok on Kodiak Island as well as the villages of Port Graham and Nanwalek on the Kenai Peninsula. The Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant in 2023 to significantly upgrade the system.

Apache Tribe of Oklahoma

Network Name: Apache Tribe of Oklahoma

Status: Expected

Using a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant won in 2022, the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma is building a hybrid fiber and wireless network. The network will include a fiber middle mile as well as fiber connections to Community Anchor Institutions, and a last mile CBRS wireless system for community members.

Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation

Network Name: Wind River Internet/Northern Arapaho Tribal Industries

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Wireless
Additional Services: Additional Services, Video Service
Website: https://windriverinternet.com/

Wind River Internet got started over a decade ago to bring Internet connectivity to the Wind River Reservation, home to the Northern Arapaho and the Eastern Shoshone Tribes. In 2014, after first performing a feasibility study, the Northern Arapaho Business Council incorporated the Northern Arapaho Tribal Industries to deliver telecommunications services to the Reservation, with the help of a donation from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. Since then, WRI has won a number of federal and state awards to help fund the network’s expansion. A fiber backbone currently connects Ethete, Arapahoe, and Riverton, and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service is available in the latter two towns, with WRI working to expand that footprint. WRI makes high speed fixed wireless available in the region as well, including in the towns of Mill Creek and Fort Washakie. In 2023, WRI estimated they had brought Internet connections to 1700 homes and businesses, with about a third of those via FTTH.

Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Network Name: Superior Connections

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: http://www.superiorconnections.com/

In 2013, the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians used a $2.5 million Sustainable Employment and Economic Development Strategies (SEEDS) grant to launch Superior Connections, which provided fiber Internet to community anchor institutions and wireless service to residents. This initial funding allowed the Tribe to build four wireless towers which remain in operation today. Further grants from the state of Wisconsin in recent years have allowed the Tribe to undertake a fiber-to-the-home build, which remains underway. Superior Connections currently provides Internet service to Tribal lands as well as to nearby communities of Ashland, Cedar, Saxon, and Gurney.

Bay Mills Indian Community

Network Name: Bay Mills Indian Community

Status: Prospective

Bay Mills Indian Community has expressed an interest in building a fiber-to-the-home network, potentially in partnership with Hiawatha Communications. The Community received grant funding to perform a feasibility study.

Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria

Network Name: Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria

Status: Prospective

The Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria has expressed interest in exploring a Tribal broadband project.

Big Sandy Rancheria

Network Name: Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians

Status: Prospective

Big Sandy has performed a feasibility study and is considering building a Tribally-owned fiber network.

Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians

Network Name: Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians Tribal Utility Authority

Status: Expected

Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians began developing a Tribal Utility Authority on the Rancheria in 2015. A Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant will support the launch of a fiber-to-the-home broadband network to be managed by the Tribal Utility Authority.

Bishop Paiute Tribe

Network Name: Bishop Paiute Tribe

Status: Prospective

The Bishop Paiute Tribe received funding to perform a feasibility study and has recently undertaken a broadband survey to assess the connectivity needs of the community. A few years ago, the Tribe undertook a pilot LTE project and is considering building a fiber-to-the-home and wireless hybrid network.

Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation

Network Name: Siyeh Communications

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Copper
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: https://www.siycom.com/

The Blackfeet Tribe has been working on addressing the community’s Internet connectivity for many years. In 2007, the Tribe launched a wireless Internet service provider named Oki Communications, but eventually found that the speeds they could offer no longer met the evolving needs of the community. In 2012, the Tribe agreed to allow CommunityTel to build middle mile infrastructure through the Blackfeet Reservation in exchange for ownership over some dark fiber. Over the next several years, the Tribe pursued multiple avenues for leveraging that fiber to expand high-speed broadband offerings on the Reservation. In 2018, it began negotiations with 3 Rivers Cooperative to purchase the Browning Telephone Exchange, with CARES funding, Tribal government support, and funding from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. The sale was completed in 2020 and Siyeh Communications was born (absorbing Oki Communications in the process), with Internet and phone service being offered across much of the Reservation. At the same time, the Tribe immediately began seeking ways to upgrade the failing copper infrastructure. After winning grant funding from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, Siyeh Communications has undertaken a Reservation-wide fiber-to-the-home build, which is currently in process.

Blue Lake Rancheria

Network Name: Blue Lake Rancheria

Status: Expected

In 2023, Blue Lake Rancheria won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to design and build a fiber backbone and wireless last mile network for the community.

Bois Forte Band of Chippewa

Network Name: Bois Forte Band of Chippewa

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Website: https://www.goctc.com/boisforte/

The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa have been working on building a fiber-to-the-home network in conjunction with CTC Communications, a local cooperative, for a number of years. The partnership calls for CTC Communications to manage the operations of the network for a period of time before handing off management to the Tribe. The construction project has been fueled by grants first from the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Community, and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development before getting a significant infusion from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. Communities like Nett Lake, Palmquist, and Indian Point were lit up first in 2023, and construction continues in Vermillion, Orr, and Pelican Lake among other areas on and surrounding the Bois Forte Band’s Tribal lands. When completed, the network will pass more than 3500 households and include nearly four hundred miles of fiber optic cable.

Bridgeport Indian Colony

Network Name: Bridgeport Indian Colony

Status: Prospective

The Bridgeport Indian Colony received a Planning, Engineering, Feasibility, and Sustainability Studies grant from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. The Tribe expects to perform assessments and design work to advance an anticipated fiber-to-the-home project. The Tribe has also received support in their work from the state of California.

Burns Paiute Tribe

Network Name: Burns Paiute Tribe

Status: Prospective

The Burns Paiute Tribe has incorporated a commitment to explore community broadband options into their Strategic Plan since 2022. In 2023, the Tribe received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to support the construction of a communications tower and the installation of fiber connecting Tribal buildings.

Cabazon Band of Mission Indians

Network Name: Cabazon Band of Mission Indians

Status: Prospective

The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to install fiber optic cable connecting locations on the Reservation. The Tribe has also chartered a Tribal Utility Authority that provides electrical, water, wastewater, and fiber optic services, but it is unclear whether the Tribe or Utility Authority currently offers broadband Internet services to either residents or Tribal offices.

Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes

Network Name: Tidal Network

Status: Expected
Website: https://tidalnet.com/

Tidal Network is an enterprise of the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes. Tidal Network builds and operates wireless Internet networks on behalf of the Central Council and other Tribal entities in Southeast Alaska, leveraging spectrum licensed through the Tribal Priority Window. Tlingit & Haida launched Tidal Network in 2021, after performing surveys and a broadband feasibility study funded through the Bureau of Indian Affair’s National Tribal Broadband Grant. Tlingit & Haida partnered with seven federally recognized Tribal entities - Chilkat Indian Village, Craig Tribal Association, Hydaburg Cooperative Association, Organized Village of Kasaan, Klawock Cooperative Association, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and Wrangell Cooperative Association - to win a large Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant in 2022. Plans include the construction of thirty towers in twenty communities. The network has announced that it expects to launch in Sitka and Wrangell in 2024, and has partnered with the Hoonah Indian Association to deploy wireless services there. It also recently reached an agreement to take over and expand the Kake Tribal Corporation’s Kwaan Wireless network.

Cherokee Nation

Network Name: Cherokee Nation

Status: Expected

A 2020 grant allowed the Cherokee Nation to assess its broadband needs. Since then, the Tribe has worked in a variety of ways in the past few years to try to close the digital divide, including distributing 11,000 hotspots during the pandemic, hiring a full-time digital navigator, offering public wifi, and opening a Connected Learning Center with AT&T. The Tribe also announced ambitious plans to invest $80 million in America Rescue Plan (ARPA) and Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program funds to build a fiber backbone and wireless last mile network, including the construction of fifteen communication towers across five counties.

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

Network Name: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Additional Services: Additional Services, Video Service
Website: http://www.crstta.com/

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe boasts the oldest Tribally-owned telecommunications company, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority (CRSTTA), founded in 1958 when the Tribe purchased an existing telephone exchange on Tribal land. Many years ago, the company received a loan from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Rural Electrification Administration, which supported an upgrade to buried copper service. CRSTTA began offering DSL Internet service in 1996 before receiving another loan from the USDA - this time the Rural Utilities Service - to transition to fiber-to-the-home in 2009. That project was completed in 2016. Further efforts in the last few years have seen CRSTTA extend the reach of its network to locations near the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, including the city of Timber Lake and into Corson County, through partnership with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Chickasaw Nation

Network Name: Trace Fiber Networks

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber
Website: https://connect.tracefiber.com/

Chickasaw Nation has been working on providing Internet services to community members since at least 2017. That year, Tribally-owned company Chickasaw Nation Telecom parterneed with a Chickasaw-owned vendor to bring wireless Internet access to the community, and Trace Fiber Networks, LLC, another Tribally-owned company, announced a five hundred mile middle mile and Institutional network encompassing Chickasaw Nation’s service area boundary. The two companies have since merged. Trace Fiber Networks currently provides fiber Internet to community anchor institutions and businesses in the Nation’s 13 county territory and, with the backing of both Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and ReConnect funding, will bring fiber-to-the-home and last mile fixed wireless service to the residents of Tribal lands.

Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation

Network Name: Buffalo Rock Communications

Status: Expected
Website: https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloRockCommunications/?_rdr

The Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation has been working on a hybrid fiber and last mile fixed wireless network to close the connectivity gap on Tribal lands. The network is currently under construction, with Buffalo Rock Communications set to launch last mile wireless services soon.

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Network Name: Chahta Connect

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Wireless
Website: https://www.choctawnation.com/services/chahta-connect/

The Choctaw Nation has been working on bringing connectivity to residents of Tribal lands for many years. Choctaw Nation Housing Authority participated in the federal Connect Home program to deploy fiber connections to housing authority buildings. Chahta Connect, a Tribally-owned hybrid fiber-to-the-home and fixed wireless last mile network, was launched with the help of a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service Community Connect grant. In 2024, the network serves about four hundred homes, as well as businesses and Community Anchor Institutions. The nation has won additional funding through a USDA ReConnect grant and continues to pursue other opportunities in order to expand the network’s footprint, especially its fiber-to-the-home availability.

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Network Name: Choctaw Nation

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber
Website: https://www.choctawnation.com/services/chahta-connect/

Besides a retail service offered through Chahta Connect, the Choctaw Nation also maintains an Institutional Network, with a fiber ring connecting seventeen community centers throughout Tribal lands.

Cocopah Tribe of Arizona

Network Name: Cocopah Tribe of Arizona

Status: Expected

The Cocopah Tribe has expressed an interest in owning its own broadband network and has received funding through Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program for a fiber network. No updates on the network are currently available.

Coeur D'Alene Tribe

Network Name: Red-Spectrum Communications

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Wireless
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: https://www.red-spectrum.com/

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe built a wireless network in 2004, after receiving funding through a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Community Connect Grant. In 2012, the Tribe received additional funding through USDA’s Broadband Initiative Program (BIP) to upgrade their wireless system, build a middle mile fiber connection, and launch a fiber-to-the-home network. Additional support for the network also came from Tribal investment, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding, and the state of Idaho. Red Spectrum Communications offers a mixture of fiber and wireless last mile Internet services to its over 1600 subscribers in a number of communities in Idaho and Washington, while continuing to explore opportunities to expand the fiber network.

Cold Springs Rancheria

Network Name: Cold Springs Rancheria

Status: Prospective

Cold Springs Rancheria has been considering ways to bring connectivity to its community, including seeking out grants for a fiber-to-the-home build.

Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation

Network Name: Colorado River Indian Tribes

Status: Expected

Colorado River Indian Tribes have been working to acquire funding to build a fiber-to-the-home network throughout their Reservation. CRIT’s infrastructure plans have been complicated by the fact that the Tribe’s Reservation spans two states: Arizona and California. In 2024, the Tribe received a grant from USDA’s ReConnect program to fund construction in the portions of the Reservation in Arizona. In August 2024, the Tribe won a grant from the state of California to support the build-out of infrastructure on the Tribe’s Reservation in California.

Comanche Nation

Network Name: Comanche Nation

Status: Prospective

Comanche Nation won a grant from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to perform a planning study and begin designs for a broadband network. Little information about the status of those plans is currently available publicly.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation

Network Name: Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe

Status: Expected

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have been working to bring better Internet connectivity to the Reservation for a number of years. After building communications towers that can be used to distribute wireless signal, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes also won Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant funding to install fiber middle mile to improve the wireless connectivity, expand the network, and begin deploying fiber-to-the-home in some areas.

Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation

Network Name: Yakama Nation Networks

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://www.ynnetworks.com/

Yakama Nation Networks is an initiative of the Yakama Nation Land Enterprise, owned by the Yakama Nation. The network provides wireless Internet service in and around the Yakama Nation Reservation to residents and businesses, and has been in operation since at least 2017, though the nation was working on developing a broadband solution long before that. It appears that the network was created without grant support, relying on Tribal investments.

Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

Network Name: Bigfoot Communications

Status: Expected

Bigfoot Communications has been in the works for years. Incorporated in 2020, the new telecommunications company of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is moving forward with a deployment to bring a hybrid wireless and fiber-to-the-home Internet network to the community. The work is supported by a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant, and the Tribe continues to pursue other funding opportunities to guarantee full access to high-speed Internet across the Reservation.

Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community

Network Name: Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://nativenetwork.com/grandronde/

After years of working through various potential broadband solutions, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community partnered with Native Network Inc to build a wireless Internet service provider based in part on support from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. Installations are ongoing, including for residents of Tribal housing. Meanwhile, the Tribe has also continued to pursue grant funding opportunities to upgrade and expand the service. We believe this network is owned by the Tribe and operated by Native Network, Inc.

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

Network Name: Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla have been working for years on a hybrid fiber and wireless broadband network following a 2016 needs assessment that found that most of the Reservation lacked broadband infrastructure. In 2020, after developing a Business Plan the preceding year, the Tribes installed miles of fiber backbone and an Institutional network, and obtained a 2.5 GHz spectrum license in the Tribal Priority Window. The Tribes also operated a public wifi during the pandemic called UmaRez. After winning a development grant from the First Nations Institute in 2021, CTUIR built two communication towers to facilitate a fixed wireless broadband solution for parts of the community. The following year, the Tribes won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to continue to build out the network and bring fiber-to-the-home to most of the Reservation residents.

Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon

Network Name: Warm Springs Telecom

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: https://www.wstel.com/

Warm Springs Telecom is an enterprise of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and was the 9th tribally-owned telecommunications company in the US. In 2010, the company received a grant and a low-interest loan through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) - created Broadband Initiatives Program. The award came after years of planning by the Tribes and supported the construction of a hybrid fiber and wireless network. While most last mile retail subscribers currently receive wireless Internet, the Tribes recently received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant that will allow an upgrade for the wireless system and help fund a fiber-to-the-home build.

Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana

Network Name: Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana

Status: Prospective

The Coushatta Tribe may be interested in pursuing broadband, expressing some interest in CBRS.

Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians

Network Name: Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians

Status: Prospective

The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe currently operate a Tribally-owned utility cooperative and have expressed a clear interest in developing broadband. The Tribe’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant award is funding the design and engineering for a shovel-ready project to bring connectivity to Tribal housing through fixed wireless.

Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California

Network Name: Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless

The Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians manages a fiber Institutional network and offers free wireless Internet service to Reservation residents. The Tribe is also considering developing a fiber-to-the-home network to serve residents.

Duckwater Shoshone Tribe

Network Name: Duckwater Shoshone Tribe

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber

The Duckwater Shoshone Tribe previously engaged Tribally-owned enterprise Puyenpa to perform a feasibility study, which ultimately recommended that the Tribe develop a fiber-to-the-home broadband network. Because the Reservation lies a significant distance from an interconnection point, the Tribe submitted and won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to construct a fiber middle mile connection between the Reservation and Eureka, then complete FTTH connections to every home on the Reservation.

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Network Name: Cherokee Cablevision

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Cable
Additional Services: Video Service
Website: https://www.balsamwest.net/cherokeecablevision

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has been offering Internet services to some of the community’s residents for several years, under the brand name Cherokee Broadband. In 2019, after commissioning a broadband feasibility study, the Tribe purchased Cherokee Cablevision, which provided cable services and Internet on the Reservation and owned backbone fiber, and merged the broadband project. The Tribe selected BalsamWest to operate the network and began plans to expand the fiber footprint and offer fiber-to-the-home services throughout the Reservation. Construction is underway. The Tribe has invested Tribal assets into the plan, as well as leveraged state support and a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant. Cherokee Cablevision continues to pursue additional avenues of support.

Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma

Network Name: Eastern Shawnee Tribe

Status: Expected

The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to help fund the development of a network, and has solicited proposals for a pilot fiber-to-the-home network.

Elk Valley Rancheria

Network Name: Elk Valley Rancheria

Status: Prospective

Elk Valley Rancheria has received funding from the state of California to conduct a broadband feasibility study. Further information about broadband planning is not available at this time.

Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians

Network Name: Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians

Status: Prospective

The Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians may be considering developing a broadband network. The Tribe received technical assistance funding from the state of California. Further information about broadband planning is not available at this time.

Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Network Name: Aaniin

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Additional Services: Additional Services, Video Service
Website: http://www.aaniin.net/

Fond du Lac Communications, doing business under the name Aaniin, offers fiber-to-the-home service throughout the Tribal lands of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Plans for a network began in the mid 2000s and grew and evolved over time. After first considering a wireless solution, the Tribe built an Institutional network, then deployed hotspots to residents before finally winning a grant to build a fiber-to-the-home network. The build was supported by grants from the US Department of Agriculture's Community Connect Program, Minnesota’s Border-to-Border broadband program, and HUD Indian Community Development Block Grants as well as a significant investment from the Tribal government. Network construction began in 2017 with the first subscribers coming online in 2019. The network currently serves about twelve hundred subscribers.

Fort Belknap Indian Community

Network Name: Fort Belknap Indian Community

Status: Prospective

Fort Belknap Indian Community may be considering developing a sovereign broadband solution for areas of their community unserved by existing providers. The Tribe has received a National Tribal Broadband Grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and has moved forward on a community needs assessment.

Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians

Network Name: Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians

Status: Expected

The Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians won support from the state of California to perform a feasibility study, and was awarded a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program for a fiber network. Little information is known at this time about the planned ownership of the assets.

Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes

Network Name: Red Mountain Communications

Status: Expected
Website: https://www.rmcomms.tech/

Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant in 2023 and began working on planning and design for a wireless network. Red Mountain Communications was formed to serve the Fort McDermitt community and has said they expect to begin offering services in 2024. It is unclear whether the company is owned by the Tribe or individually by Tribal members.

Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation

Network Name: Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation

Status: Prospective

Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation may be considering developing a broadband plan to bring high-speed Internet to the community.

Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona

Network Name: Fort Mojave Telecommunications

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Wireless
Additional Services: Additional Services, Video Service
Website: http://ftmojave.com/

Fort Mojave Indian Reservation lies partially in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Fort Mojave Telecommunications Inc was established in 1988 to provide telephone and cable services. The company is majority owned by the Tribe, in partnership with NATELCO. Fort Mojave Telecommunications eventually began offering Internet services through copper lines and fixed wireless before obtaining funding through the US Department of Agriculture ReConnect program to upgrade to fiber-to-the-home services, which are now available in some communities with construction underway in others. The company also offers limited fixed wireless services in some areas.

Fort Sill Apache Tribe

Network Name: Fort Sill Apache Tribe

Status: Prospective

The Fort Sill Apache Tribe received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant that it indicated would be used to deploy a public access WiFI at several community anchor institutions, and which would serve as the foundation for future infrastructure.

Gidutikad Band of Northern Paiute Tribe (Fort Bidwell Indian Community)

Network Name: Gidutikad Band of Northern Paiute Tribe

Status: Expected

The Gidutikad Band of Northern Paiute, federally-recognized as the Fort Bidwell Indian Community, has been working towards bringing connectivity to its community for several years. Planning and feasibility study support came from the state of California. Special difficulty arose from the fact that the Tribe remains many miles away from the nearest meaningful middle mile connection point. In August 2024, California announced a significant grant to the Tribe to build out a fiber-to-the-home network.

Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation

Network Name: Gila River Telecommunications

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: http://www.gilarivertel.com/

Gila River Telecommunications, Inc (GRTI) is a leader in the Tribal telecom movement. The company began in 1988 after the Tribe purchased infrastructure from US west. Leveraging loans and grants from the US Department of Agriculture over the years, Gila River Telecommunications expanded its service area and undertook a now-complete upgrade of their former copper infrastructure to fiber-to-the-home. The company also used Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds to establish community WiFi and equip Tribal vehicles with mobile hot spots. Alongside its leadership in the National Tribal Telecom Association, GRTI has also committed itself to bringing new digital equity programming to the community to ensure residents are able to take full advantage of the best-in-class Internet services.

Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians

Network Name: GTB Fiber

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber

The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Council authorized the creation of GTB Fiber in 2017 in an effort to close the digital divide in the Tribe’s six-county service area. GTB Fiber installed an Institutional network as well as dark fiber. The company appears interested in expanding to residential service, and received a small grant through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to assist those efforts.

Guidiville Rancheria

Network Name: Guidiville Rancheria

Status: Prospective

The Guidiville Rancheria received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to fund the development of a plan to eventually bring fiber to the Rancheria. No further information is currently available.

Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake

Network Name: Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake

Status: Expected

Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake is working with Kajeet to bring high-speed wireless broadband to the Tribe’s lands, a project supported in part by a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant.

Havasupai Tribe of the Havasupai Reservation

Network Name: Havasupai Tribe

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless

The Havasupai Tribe has been working on bringing broadband infrastructure to its community for a number of years. The Tribe initially received a US Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service Community Connectivity grant in 2005 to build a wireless backhaul into the community to serve Tribal offices and buildings. In 2017, the Tribal Council undertook a collaborative project with MuralNet to build a small LTE network for residents to support distance learning using a temporary license issued by the FCC to 2.5 Ghz spectrum over its lands. In 2019, the FCC granted the Tribe a full license to that spectrum and the network was expanded, though bandwidth and speeds remained limited. Reporting suggests that the Tribe’s successful stewardship of its license helped pave the way for the 2.5 Ghz Tribal Priority Window in 2020. In 2022, the Tribe won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to significantly expand and upgrade the Tribe’s Internet offerings.

Ho-Chunk Nation

Network Name: Ho-Chunk Nation

Status: Prospective

Ho-Chunk Nation has been considering bringing broadband to the community, conducting a broadband survey, hosting community input events, and releasing an RFP for a broadband consultant to develop a broadband strategic plan.

Hoh Indian Tribe

Network Name: Hoh Indian Tribe

Status: Prospective

The Hoh Indian Tribe worked with Starlink in 2020 to bring some connectivity to the community. The Tribe then received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to perform pre-construction activities for the development of a fiber-to-the-home network. Further information about the plan or ownership of a potential network is not currently available.

Hoopa Valley Tribe

Network Name: Acorn Wireless

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://acornwireless.net/

The Hoopa Valley Tribe launched a wireless Internet service provider in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, supported by Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding. Acorn Wireless is owned and operated by the Hoopa Valley Public Utilities District, a Tribal department. Aside from this retail service, the Tribe has also connected numerous Tribal departments to dark fiber. Currently, the network uses a microwave backhaul to offer speeds of up to 100/20 to retail and business customers using the Tribe’s 2.5 Ghz license and CBRS spectrum. In 2022, the Tribe won a significant Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program award to bring a fiber-to-the-home network to the Reservation. The following year, the Tribe signed a first-of-its-kind agreement with California to build and maintain a portion of the state’s new middle mile infrastructure.

Hopi Tribe of Arizona

Network Name: Hopi Telecommunications Inc

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Copper
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: https://hopitelecom.com/

Hopi Telecommunications Inc was formed two decades ago by the Hopi Tribal Council. Drawing on early funding from the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Broadband Initiatives Program, Hopi Telecommunications built a network to bring much-needed Internet and phone service to the Reservation. For many years, most of Hopi Telecommunications’ infrastructure was DSL or wireless with a fiber middle mile connecting the network to the broader Internet. In recent years, Hopi Telecommunications has obtained significant funding from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and the USDA to bring fiber-to-the-home in most of the company's service area.

Ione Band of Miwok Indians

Network Name: Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California

Status: Prospective

The Ione Band of Miwok Indians won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to fund a comprehensive broadband deployment plan, with a focus on using the 2.5 GHz license the Tribe acquired in the Tribal Priority Window.

Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

Network Name: Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber

Around a decade ago, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska installed a Tribally-owned fiber network with the support of a US Department of Agriculture Broadband Initiatives Program grant, largely connecting community anchor institutions. Little information is currently known about the status of that network. Residential fiber-to-the-home internet is currently available on the Reservation through Rainbow Communications. The network recently received support for construction in the City of White Cloud and other areas in Doniphan County, though it is not currently clear to ILSR who owns these network assets on Tribal lands. Recent funding from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program supported the expansion of public WiFi services on the Reservation.

Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma

Network Name: Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma

Status: Prospective

The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to set up a public WiFi access point and complete engineering design for a fiber and wireless hybrid network. Further information about the plan or ownership of the proposed network is not currently available.

Isleta Pueblo

Network Name: Isleta Pueblo

Status: Expected

The Pueblo of Isleta received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant in 2022 to begin construction on a fiber-to-the-home network that will serve the entire community. The project also includes the construction of communication towers to support Emergency Medical Services.

Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe

Network Name: Jamestown Networks

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber
Website: https://jamestownnetworks.com/

The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, through the Jamestown Economic Development Authority, owns a middle mile and Institutional network in Washington State. Jamestown Networks delivers broadband to Community Anchor institutions and government buildings. The network started in 2013 with a collaboration with Noanet, and has been active in E-Rate activities since then.

Jena Band of Choctaw Indians

Network Name: Jena Band of Choctaw Indians

Status: Prospective

The Jena Band of Choctaw Indians has expressed an interest in launching an ISP to Louisiana state broadband officials, but it does not appear that the Tribe has obtained funding yet. Further information about a prospective broadband deployment is not currently available.

Jicarilla Apache Nation

Network Name: Jicarilla Apache Nation Power Authority

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://www.jicarillaelectric.com/

Jicarilla Apache Nation owns the Jicarilla Apache Nation Power Authority, which supplies electricity throughout the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. A Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant will allow the Power Authority to deploy broadband too, using many of its aerial assets. There is little public information about the status of that construction, but the FCC’s Broadband Data Collection indicates that the Power Authority is currently using the Tribe’s 2.5 Ghz license in some areas of the Reservation.

Kalispel Indian Community of the Kalispel Reservation

Network Name: Kalispel Indian Community

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home

In 2020, Kalispel Indian Community determined that the DSL that supplied Internet service to most of the Reservation was not sufficient for modern uses, especially as the pandemic raged on. That year, the Tribe partnered with Petrichor Broadband, LLC, a publicly owned corporation, to apply for grants and design a network. After winning grants from Washington State Public Works Board (PWB) and the Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB), the Tribe completed a fiber-to-the-home network construction for all residents and businesses on Reservation. 

Karuk Tribe

Network Name: Áan Chúuphan ISP

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://www.karuk.us/index.php/internet-services

The Karuk Tribe has owned and operated fixed wireless Internet service provider Áan Chúuphan since 2015. In 2011, the Tribe won a USDA Community Connectivity grant that allowed it to bring a fiber Internet middle mile connection to Orleans and to build a communications tower from which to distribute fixed wireless signal to residents in the community. The Tribe recently won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to begin planning to transition the network to a fiber-to-the-home system.

Karuk Tribe, Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation

Network Name: Klamath River Rural Broadband Initiative

Status: Expected
Website: https://krrbi.com/

The Klamath River Rural Broadband Initiative, a project of the Karuk and Yurok Tribes, has been in the works since 2015 when the two Tribes first decided to work together to bring much-needed middle mile infrastructure to the region. The project, which has received support from the California Public Utilities Commission, intends to construct a middle mile fiber network connecting Orleans, Weitchpec, Wautec, Tulley Creek, Orick, and McKinleyville. The network will also offer last mile fiber connections to Community Anchor Institutions and last mile wireless to residents and businesses in the affected communities.

Kewa Pueblo

Network Name: Santo Domingo ISP

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://santodomingoisp.com/

Santo Domingo ISP currently serves the Kewa Pueblo, also known as the Santo Domingo Pueblo, with wireless Internet. The service was established during the pandemic and offers speeds up to 50 Mbps. The network expects to see significant upgrades soon. New Mexico’s broadband office recently awarded the Pueblo a grant, which will be combined with significant contributions from the Pueblo, to install a fiber-to-the-home network. The Pueblo also received funding from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program for a complementary fiber build. The Pueblo’s plans include building out to some surrounding communities that likewise lack access to affordable and reliable broadband connections.

Kickapoo Traditional Tribe

Network Name: Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas

Status: Expected

The Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to construct a wireless Internet service on Tribal lands and appear to be committed to owning the network. No information about the status of the network build is publicly available at this time.

Kiowa Indian Tribe

Network Name: Kiowa Indian Tribe

Status: Prospective

The Kiowa Indian Tribe has expressed great interest in developing broadband solutions for its communities. The Tribe has established a partnership to learn from the City of Pharr’s broadband network and explore ways of making the City of Hobart a smart city. The Tribe has also sought to establish a coalition of Native nations to develop Tribally-owned broadband. Further information about the development of these plans is not currently available.

Klamath Tribes

Network Name: Klamath Tribes

Status: Prospective

The Klamath Tribes received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to fund pre-construction activities for a proposed fiber-to-the-home network. Further information about the development of these plans is not currently available.

La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians

Network Name: La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians

Status: Prospective

The La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to support the planning for a proposed fiber-to-the-home network. Further information about the development of these plans is not currently available.

Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

Network Name: Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

Status: Prospective

The Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Indians have expressed interest in developing broadband for several years. In 2022, the Tribe employed a broadband project coordinator and conducted a broadband feasibility study. Further information about the development of these plans is not currently available.

Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

Network Name: Eighth Fire Communications

Status: Expected
Website: https://ldfbdc.com/companies/eighth-fire-communications/

After winning a Tribal broadband Connectivity Grant award, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians have been working to deploy a fiber-to-the-home network, breaking ground in 2023. The Tribal ISP will be called Eighth Fire Communications, and is an enterprise of the Lac du Flambeau Business Development Corporation. Services are expected to launch soon. The Tribe has been working towards this goal for some time, trying to get a network started almost a decade ago and convening a Lac du Flambeau Broadband Team, composed of Tribal and state government officials.

Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe

Network Name: Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe

Status: Expected

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant in early 2023 to build a hybrid fiber and fixed wireless network. The Tribe had been working for nearly two years on the plans of the network and has convened a broadband task force to guide the initiative. Planning and deployment of the network have begun, with environmental studies already underway.

Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe

Network Name: Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://lppsr.org/wp/covid-19/tribal-emergency-response/broadband-network/

During the pandemic, the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribal Council authorized the establishment of an emergency wireless network on the Reservation to facilitate much-needed Internet connectivity. The Tribe subsequently used support from California and the Bureau of Indian Affairs for planning and feasibility studies to consider the best way to ensure affordable and reliable broadband in the community moving forward, and have received funding from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to build out fiber connections and upgrade the wireless capabilities of their network.

Lower Brule Sioux Tribe

Network Name: Lower Brule Sioux Tribal Housing

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless

The Lower Brule Sioux Tribal Council approved efforts to build a Tribally-owned wireless network during the pandemic. Within a year, the Tribe had an operational network offering wireless Internet access on the Reservation free to residents. The Tribe has since received financial support through grants, including a planning grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant will support significant upgrades and expansion to the wireless network. The current status of those upgrades or the network is unknown.

Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe

Network Name: Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Networks

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://nativenetwork.com/lekt/

During the pandemic, the Tribe confronted significant connectivity gaps for residents of the Reservation, including students and elders. Responding to those needs, the Tribe worked with Native Network LLC to launch a wireless network offered to residents for free. The project was assisted by previous efforts to bring fiber to some community anchor institutions and the Tribe’s acquisition of the 2.5 Ghz license in the Tribal Priority Window. In 2023, the network announced that it would be transitioning to a paid model. A Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant won in 2023 is intended to support the construction of additional communications towers to expand the reach of the network. Meanwhile, the Tribe continues to explore options for fiber-to-the-home construction as well.

Lower Sioux Indian Community

Network Name: Lower Sioux Indian Community

Status: Prospective

The Lower Sioux Indian Community received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to install fiber-to-the-home on Tribal lands. Reporting suggests that the Tribe has partnered with a company to develop the project, but ownership over the network assets remains unclear.

Lummi Tribe

Network Name: Lummi Tribe

Status: Expected

The Lummi Tribe bootstrapped a wireless Internet network during the pandemic, making use of the Tribe’s existing fiber ring. Though the Tribe had been considering its broadband options at least as early as 2019, the pandemic threw into sharp relief the lack of reliable and affordable Internet access on the Reservation. The pandemic-era emergency wireless system appears to have been retired, but the Tribe is now working on a fiber-to-the-home network funded by a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant. The Tribe’s broadband team will supervise as a contractor undertakes the build, slated to begin in 2024.

Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Reservation

Network Name: Makah Indian Tribe

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless

Citizens of the Makah Indian Tribe have been working to boost connectivity on the Reservation for more than a decade. In 2014, the Makah Tribe invested in the development of a microwave middle mile and Institutional network to bring higher capacity Internet connection to the community. A recent Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant program will help support a fiber and fixed wireless hybrid last mile system and upgrade the existing middle mile network.

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

Network Name: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

Status: Expected

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to launch a hybrid fiber and wireless network to serve the community. No information on the status of construction is currently available publicly.

Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan

Network Name: Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan

Status: Prospective

The Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians solicited proposals for a Integrated Utility Systems Master Plan, to include broadband and telecommunications infrastructure. No further information about the plan is currently available.

Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria

Network Name: Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria

Status: Prospective

The Mechoopda Indian Tribe has received funding from the state of California for a broadband feasibility study. No further information about the study or its outcome is currently available.

Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation

Network Name: Mescalero Apache Telecom

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: https://www.matinetworks.net/

Mescalero Apache Telecom, Inc is one of the veteran Tribally-owned broadband and telecommunication networks. Established in 1995, the company was incorporated a few years later and began offering services in 2001. The company continues to offer telephone and started its broadband network on DSL, but has been transitioning the network to fiber-to-the-home over the last few years through the support of US Department of Agriculture loans and the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. The company says that before its launch, only 10 percent of residents had access to even basic phone service. MATI now offers broadband services throughout the Reservation. The network also supports the cause of Tribal broadband more generally. The General Manager of MATI, Godfrey Enjady, provides vital leadership in the National Tribal Telecommunications Association.

Metlakatla Indian Community

Network Name: Metlakatla Power and Light

Status: Expected

The Metlakatla Indian Community won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to bring a fiber network to the community. The network will be operated by the Metlakatla Power and Light company, which supplies power to the island. The project is moving along, having completed its Environmental Assessment in 2023, but services do not yet appear available for subscribers.

Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians

Network Name: Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians

Status: Prospective

The Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians has received funding from the state of California for a broadband feasibility study. No further information about the study or its outcome is currently available.

Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe

Network Name: Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber

Some time ago, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe installed a small fiber Institutional network, with the Tribe leasing bandwidth from a local ISP. Since 2021, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe has been exploring other options to bring better connectivity to the Reservation. A Tribally-owned entity, Mille Lacs Corporate Venture, began a partnership that year with cooperative Consolidated Telephone Company (CTC). In 2023, the Tribe was awarded a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to help support the construction of a Tribally-owned fiber-to-the-home network that will be operated by CTC.

Morongo Band of Mission Indians

Network Name: Morongo Band of Mission Indians

Status: Prospective

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians has received funding from the state of California for a broadband feasibility study. The Tribe also has passed an ordinance authorizing the creation of a Tribal Utility Authority, which may include telecommunications. No further information about the study or its outcome is currently available.

Muscogee Creek Nation Tribal Utility Authority

Network Name: The Muscogee (Creek) Nation

Status: Prospective

In 2021, The Muscogee Nation established the Muscogee Creek Nation Tribal Utility Authority to develop broadband infrastructure. Two years later, the Tribal Utility Authority completed a Tribal Broadband Strategic Plan and continues to pursue broadband planning and funding opportunities. At one point, the nation authorized the use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to install a communications tower, though the status of that project is unknown.

Narragansett Indian Tribe

Network Name: Narragansett Indian Tribe

Status: Expected

The Narragansett Indian Tribe won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to deploy a fixed wireless broadband network using the Tribe’s 2.5 GHz license. No information on the status of construction is currently available publicly.

Nation of Hawai'i

Network Name: Waimanalo Community Network

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless

Waimānalo Community Network was built by the residents of the Nation of Hawai’i in Waimānalo. The small community, of less than a 100 people, is Hawaii’s oldest sovereignty group with a 45-acre land base that they acquired through a 15-month occupation of state lands. With the help of the Internet Society, community members trenched 600 feet of fiber to connect to nearby fiber and built an LTE network to bring wireless Internet service to community members.

Nez Perce Tribe

Network Name: Nez Perce Department of Technology Services

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Wireless
Website: https://nezpercesystems.com/

Since 2010, the Nez Perce Tribe has been offering fixed wireless and, more recently, fiber-to-the-home Internet connections to residents, serving nearly two thousand customers. Ten years earlier, the Tribe had brought fiber connections to government buildings. In 2010, it launched its residential network, using funding from the Idaho Gem Grant Program and US Department of Agriculture Community Connect program to build several communication towers. The Tribe then leveraged other funding sources, like the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, and other state broadband grants to build out a wireless ring around the Reservation, eventually installing equipment on nearly fifty towers, many owned by the Tribe. In 2020, the Nez Perce Tribe installed fiber middle mile infrastructure to boost their backhaul. Over the last few years, the Tribe has begun building out a fiber-to-the-home network in several communities.

Nisqually Indian Tribe

Network Name: Nisqually Indian Tribe

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: http://www.nisqually-nsn.gov/index.php/administration/it/

After the Nisqually Indian Tribe undertook a broadband feasibility study in 2016 that revealed a significant lack of broadband availability, the Tribe began pursuing opportunities to develop its own solution. In 2018, the Tribe combined support from Washington state’s Community Economic Revitalization Board with its own investment to build a fiber-to-the-home network that serves every member of the community. After its successful build, the Tribe has sought to help solve connectivity challenges in neighboring communities. Since 2019, the Tribe has been exploring numerous options for building Open Access Networks in areas of Thurston County with projects underway in a number of areas.

Nooksack Indian Tribe

Network Name: Nooksack Indian Tribe

Status: Expected

In an effort to urgently close the connectivity gap, in 2020 the Nooksack Indian Tribe purchased more than a hundred Starlink Kits to connect households and community buildings. A 2023 Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant will allow the Tribe to replace that satellite connectivity with a fiber network. No information on the status of construction is currently available publicly.

Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation

Network Name: Northern Cheyenne Communications Corp

Status: Expected

The Northern Cheyenne Tribe wanted to find a connectivity solution that offered fair and reasonable access to members of its community. The Tribe had been exploring its options since at least 2022, when it set up a broadband committee. The next year, the Tribe was awarded a significant Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to begin deploying a fiber-to-the-home network. The Tribe hosted a groundbreaking in May of 2024 for the project and construction is underway.

Oglala Sioux Tribe

Network Name: Oglala Lakota Telecom

Status: Expected
Website: https://oltllc.com/

Oglala Lakota Telecom has been making strides towards better connectivity for some time. The Tribe received a 2.5 GHz license in the Tribal Priority Window. To close the gap in the short-term, Oglala Lakota Telecom used American Rescue Plan Act funding to initiate a Pilot Internet Access Project, bringing free Starlink kits to tribal members. Meanwhile, the Tribe has won grants from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and US Department of Agriculture ReConnect program to design and build a fiber-to-the-home and fixed wireless hybrid network across the Reservation. While that project is getting up and running, the Tribal Council approved the purchase of three local exchange carriers offering some services in the region to bring that infrastructure under Tribal control.

Ohkay Owingeh

Network Name: Ohkay Owingeh

Status: Prospective

Ohkay Owingeh received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to make wireless Internet access available to more residents of the Pueblo. No further information about a possible Tribally-owned network is available.

Omaha Tribe of Nebraska

Network Name: Quick Current

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber
Website: https://www.qcbroadband.com/about

Quick Current is a Tribally-owned broadband provider that provides middle mile fiber services in Nebraska and Iowa. The company undertook a significant middle mile build with the support of the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program. Quick Current has also partnered with Evolve Cellular, Inc. on two last mile broadband companies, Quick Current-Nebraska and Quick Current-Iowa. Those networks will leverage the fiber middle mile owned by Quick Current to bring mostly last mile fixed wireless to residents in the service area.

Oneida Nation

Network Name: Oneida Nation

Status: Prospective

The Oneida Nation may be developing Tribally-owned broadband infrastructure. The Tribe has expressed its commitment to broadband planning in the past, and announced a partnership with NSight to pursue a grant opportunity. The Tribe also received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant for fiber backbone infrastructure, though information about ownership and status of proposed construction is not available.

Osage Nation

Network Name: Osage Broadband

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless, Fiber-to-the-Home
Website: https://www.osagebroadband.com/

Osage Broadband is the Internet Service provider owned by the Osage Nation, through a Tribally-owned LLC. Osage Broadband is operated in partnership with AtLink Services. Originally supported by a 2020 US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Community Connect grant and Osage Nation’s own resources, the network currently offers a mixture of fixed wireless and fiber-to-the-home services. More recently, Osage Nation secured significant grants from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and USDA’s ReConnect Program to significantly expand the availability of both fixed wireless and FTTH. As of fall 2024, construction on this project is underway.

Otoe Missouria Tribe of Indians

Network Name: Redwire Telecom

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://www.facebook.com/RedwireTelecom?locale=az_AZ

The Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians owns Redwire Telecommunications, which has partnered with AtLink to bring wireless Internet to a number of homes in the community, including in Tribal housing. In 2023, another entity owned by the Tribe partnered with GTT Communications to upgrade the backhaul serving the Reservation, though ownership of that fiber is not clear. Updated information on the status of Redwire’s wireless network, including subscribers, is not publicly available.

Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah

Network Name: Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah

Status: Prospective

Some Bands of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah have expressed interest in owning and operating broadband networks. The Shivwits Band of Paiutes received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to explore this possibility.

Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony

Network Name: Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony

Status: Expected

The Paiute-Shoshone Tribe won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to deploy a fiber and fixed wireless hybrid system on the Fallon Reservation and Colony. No information on the status of construction is currently available publicly.

Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona

Network Name: Pascua Yaqui Networks

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://pytnetworks.com/

Pascua Yaqui Networks offers free fixed wireless Internet service to Tribal members on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation and on Tribal lands near Tucson and Phoenix. The network was launched in 2020 in response to the pandemic and has been expanding in recent years, with the support of a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant. That grant helped the network extend the wireless infrastructure to new communities, connect Tribal government buildings and businesses, install fiber backbone, and launch a limited fiber-to-the-home network in a new housing development.

Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians

Network Name: Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians

Status: Prospective

The Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians applied for and received a 2.5 GHz license in the Tribal Priority Window. The Tribe has also received funding from the state of California to conduct broadband planning and feasibility studies.

Pawnee Nation

Network Name: Pawnee Nation

Status: Expected

Pawnee Nation has been building a case for Tribal broadband for a few years. Broadband access featured among the five priorities outlined in the 2020 Pawnee Nation Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. In 2021, the Nation did a survey for members to further identify broadband needs in the community. As a result of these efforts, Pawnee Nation was awarded a US Department of Agriculture Reconnect grant to support the development of a fiber-to-the-home network in 2023. No information on the status of construction is currently available publicly.

Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pechanga Reservation

Network Name: Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home

The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians built a fiber-to-the-home network to serve community members, investing the Tribe’s own resources to accomplish the build. The network has been in operation for a number of years, but little information is publicly available about the network, including the number of subscribers.

Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians

Network Name: Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians

Status: Prospective

The Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians has received funding from the state of California to conduct broadband planning and feasibility studies. Little information is available about the outcome of those processes.

Pinoleville Pomo Nation

Network Name: Pinoleville Pomo Nation

Status: Prospective

The Pinoleville Pomo Nation may be considering options for broadband deployment, but has not yet received funding to support infrastructure.

Pit River Tribe

Network Name: Pit River Tribe

Status: Prospective

The Pit River Tribe may be considering options for broadband deployment and will have opportunities to connect to the state of California’s new middle mile infrastructure. The Tribe does not appear to have yet received funding to support infrastructure.

Poarch Band of Creeks

Network Name: Escambia Community Broadband

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://escambiacommunityutilities.nexbillpayonline.com/pay-online/

In 2023, the Poarch Band of Creeks announced the launch of the Tribe’s new wireless Internet network, operated by Tribally-owned Escambia Community Utilities. The network was built using Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding. It uses more than ten poles/towers to broadcast a wireless Internet signal covering 36 square miles on Tribal lands and in 2024 was already serving over 100 subscribers.

Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma

Network Name: Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma

Status: Prospective

The Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to explore the possibilities of launching a CBRS-based fixed wireless broadband network. Little information is available about the plan or ownership of a proposed network.

Ponca Tribe of Nebraska

Network Name: OSNI Ponca Broadband Network

Status: Prospective

The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska received a Planning, Engineering, Feasibility, and Sustainability grant through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to develop network designs and complete planning activities for a potential fiber-to-the-home network. Little information is available about the outcome of those processes.

Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe

Network Name: PGST Internet

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://pgst.nsn.us/contact/

According to the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe Information Technology department, the Tribe provides “reliable Internet to the PGST Community” called PGST Internet. Little information is publicly available about the technology used or the reach of the service currently. The Tribe also appears to operate an Institutional network with a 10Gb backhaul connection. The Tribe is currently pursuing funding to build a fiber-to-the-home network to serve every home on the Reservation. A Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program is supporting the construction of that network, though little information is publicly available about the status of that upgrade/construction.

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation

Network Name: Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation

Status: Expected

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has been considering the best way to close the connectivity gap on Tribal lands for some time. Over the last few years, the Tribe performed a feasibility study, completed design work for fiber broadband infrastructure, and won grants from the state of Kansas and the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program for the installation of conduit and handholds. This is part of the Tribe’s planned phased approach to network deployment.

Pueblo of Acoma

Network Name: Pueblo of Acoma Utility Authority

Status: Expected

The Pueblo of Acoma Utility Authority will soon launch a broadband department that will deploy and manage a new fiber-to-the-home network being constructed with the support of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. Information about the timeline for this network is not currently available.

Pueblo of Cochiti

Network Name: Pueblo of Cochiti

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home

In 2020, the Pueblo of Cochiti received funding from the state of New Mexico to build a fiber-to-the-home network in the Pueblo, which was completed the following year. It appears that the Pueblo’s IT department partially manages the network. The state of New Mexico also lists the Pueblo of Cochiti as operating an ISP. Little information is available on the status of the network or the number of subscribers.

Pueblo of Jemez

Network Name: Jemez Pueblo Tribal Network

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless, Fiber
Website: https://jemezpueblo.net/

Jemez Pueblo Tribal Network, or JNET, was started during the pandemic as a wireless Internet service provider. The network uses the Pueblo’s 2.5 Ghz license obtained in the Tribal Priority Window. Using a small team of installers, the network was able to provide wireless Infrastructure to every household interested in the service, taking advantage of dark fiber that the Pueblo had previously installed for backhaul. Using financial support from the state of New Mexico and substantial funding allocated by the Pueblo itself, the Pueblo of Jemez is undertaking a fiber-to-the-home build which will bring reliable, high-speed and state-of-the-art Internet to the community.

Pueblo of Jemez, Zia Pueblo

Network Name: Jemez-Zia Pueblo Tribal Consortium

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber

The Jemez-Zia Pueblo Tribal Consortium was founded in 2016 to bring high-speed Internet to connect schools and libraries in the Pueblo of Jemez and the Pueblo of Zia. The Tribally-owned fiber connection was completed in 2018, leveraging E-Rate funding and connecting six institutions. The installation of the network cut Internet costs for the libraries by an estimated 98%.

Pueblo of Laguna

Network Name: K'awaika Hanu Internet

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://lagunaua.org/kawaika-hanu-internet

The Pueblo of Laguna owns and operates a long-standing wireless Internet Service provider through the Pueblo’s Utility Authority. The network was launched with the support of a US Department of Agriculture Community Connect grant nearly ten years ago, and serves several hundred subscribers. The Pueblo recently won support from the state of New Mexico to build a fiber-to-the-home network, with the Pueblo contributing a substantial match to the project costs. That construction project will be underway soon.

Pueblo of Nambe

Network Name: Pueblo of Nambe

Status: Expected

The Pueblo of Nambe has plans in place for the development of a fiber and wireless hybrid network and potentially a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployment down the line. The Pueblo received funding from the state of New Mexico, with the Pueblo contributing a significant match, to build middle mile fiber connecting to Redinet infrastructure and to construct a communication tower. A Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant is supporting the first phase of a prospective FTTH network.

Pueblo of Picuris

Network Name: Pueblo of Picuris Utilities Department

Status: Expected

The Pueblo of Picuris is working on establishing a Tribally-owned fiber-to-the-home network operated by the Pueblo of Picuris Utilities Department. The project has been supported by funding from the state of New Mexico and the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program.

Pueblo of Pojoaque

Network Name: Pueblo of Pojoaque Internet Service

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://www.popisp.net/service-plans/

The Pueblo of Pojoaque Internet service offers wireless Internet in and around the Pueblo of Pojoaque. Little information is available about the origins of this service or its current reach. The Pueblo won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant aimed at developing at least a limited fiber-to-the-home network.

Pueblo of San Felipe, Pueblo of Santa Ana, Pueblo of Cochiti, Kewa Pueblo

Network Name: Middle Rio Grande Pueblo Consortium

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber

The Middle Rio Grande Pueblo Consortium was founded in 2016 to bring high-speed Internet to connect schools and libraries in the four Pueblos. The Tribally-owned fiber connection was completed in 2018, leveraging E-Rate funding. The project increased available speeds and decreased costs significantly.

Pueblo of San Ildefonso

Network Name: Pueblo of San Ildefonso

Status: Expected

The Pueblo of San Ildefonso has been exploring ways to close the digital divide in its community for several years. In 2023, the Pueblo’s enterprise, San Ildefonso Services, received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant award to support the deployment of a fiber-to-the-home network augmented by fixed wireless service to meet the needs of outlying areas. Environmental review, design, and permitting got underway that year. Further information about the status of the construction project is currently unavailable publicly.

Pueblo of Santa Ana

Network Name: Pueblo of Santa Ana

Status: Expected

Santa Ana Pueblo received a grant from the state of New Mexico to build eighteen new fiber miles, with the Pueblo contributing matching funds. Further information about the status of the construction project or the launching of a Tribally-owned ISP is currently unavailable publicly.

Pueblo of Santa Clara

Network Name: Pueblo of Santa Clara

Status: Expected

The Pueblo of Santa Clara received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to deploy fiber-to-the-home service to Tribal households. The project also entails the construction of several communication towers to expand wireless communications options. The construction project is being overseen by the Special Projects Office of the Pueblo. Further information about the status of the construction project or the launching of a Tribally-owned ISP is currently unavailable publicly.

Pueblo of Taos

Network Name: Pueblo of Taos

Status: Prospective

The Pueblo of Taos has expressed that it is considering establishing a Tribal Utility to deploy and manage broadband. The Pueblo received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program planning grant to develop plans and engineering for a Tribally-owned network.

Pueblo of Tesuque

Network Name: Pueblo of Tesuque

Status: Prospective

The Pueblo of Tesuque received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program planning grant to develop plans and engineering for a Tribally-owned network. No further information is available on that planning process.

Pueblo of Zia

Network Name: Pueblo of Zia

Status: Prospective

The Pueblo of Zia acquired a 2.5 GHz license in the Tribal Priority Window and was exploring ways to use it to bring broadband access to community anchor institutions. No further information is currently available on that planning process.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of the Pyramid Lake Reservation

Network Name: Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Telecom

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Website: https://plpt.nsn.us/broadband/

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Telecom is currently undertaking a significant fiber-to-the-home build, connecting the communities of Nixon and Sutcliffe and, eventually, Wadsworth and Marble Bluff. Project planning has been underway since 2021, and households in the first two communities are now connected. The project is supported by American Rescue Plan Act funding and it builds on a fiber backbone/middle mile that was installed using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding a decade ago. In recent years, the Tribe has made its middle mile route available to assist surrounding communities working to solve their own connectivity challenges.

Quinault Indian Nation

Network Name: Quinault Indian Nation

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber

Quinault Indian Nation has been working to address connectivity challenges in its community for some time. In 2010, the Tribe received a technical assistance grant from the US Department of Agriculture, which helped the Tribe plan and execute a broadband build through a Tribal capital investment. That build appears to have focused on the construction of a fiber Institutional network connecting many Tribal government buildings and Community Anchor Institutions. Little information about this network or other services offered to residents is currently publicly available.

Quinault Indian Nation

Network Name: Toptana Technologies

Status: Expected
Website: https://www.toptanatech.com/

Frustrated by the lack of meaningful backhaul in its region, Quinault Indian Nation announced plans in 2022 to deploy an undersea cable landing station on Tribal land. The facility’s plan offers capacity to support four cable customers at first with eventual growth to sixteen customers. The landing station will connect to backhaul infrastructure also owned by Toptana Technologies. Initial estimates put the timeline for construction at 2025, but little additional information on the status of construction is publicly available at present.

Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin

Network Name: Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

Status: Expected

The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians have been working steadling to increase connectivity on the Reservation. In 2020, the Tribe won a grant to bring a backhaul connection to Tribal lands. The Tribe also conducted a full feasibility study before launching its fiber-to-the-home build in 2023, following the successful award of a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant. Construction is now underway with an estimated completion date in early 2025.

Reno-Sparks Indian Colony

Network Name: Hungry Valley Broadband Initiative

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless

The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony won a grant from the Broadband Initiatives Program in 2009 and built a wireless network serving the Hungry Valley community. Construction on the network was underway in 2014 and 2015. While the network was still operational in 2020, little information is publicly available about its current status.

Robinson Rancheria

Network Name: Robinson Rancheria

Status: Prospective

Robinson Rancheria has expressed interest in developing broadband to improve connectivity on the Rancheria. No further information about progress or planned ownership is currently available.

Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation

Network Name: Rosebud Sioux Tribe

Status: Expected

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe received a grant from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program in 2023. The Tribe has since announced an agreement with a contractor to build a wireless Internet service provider on the Reservation, which the Tribe will own. Further information about the status of this network and its estimated timeline are not currently available publicly.

Round Valley Indian Tribes

Network Name: Round Valley Indian Tribes

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless

The Round Valley Indian Tribes made a first effort to bring Tribally-owned Internet services to the Reservation with a cell tower construction project. After some difficulties, the Tribes took a different route in partnership with EnerTribe and Tarana, building a high-speed wireless network and a fiber backbone in 2023, a project funded by a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant. At the same time, the Tribes have also been exploring options for a fiber-to-the-home construction, with support from California for planning and pre-engineering work.

Sac & Fox Nation

Network Name: Sac & Fox Nation

Status: Prospective

Sac & Fox Nation received funding for a fiber-to-the-home network alongside Centranet and the project is moving forward. No clear information about ownership of the network is currently available online.

Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (Meskwaki Nation)

Network Name: Fox Xchange

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Website: https://www.meskwaki.org/internet-services/

The Meskwaki Nation built a fiber-to-the-home network in the community over several phases, with the main build completed in 2018 using the Tribe’s own resources. Since then, the Tribe has won a number of smaller grants to expand the network. The network is operated by the Tribe’s Information Technology Services department.

Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe

Network Name: Mohawk Networks

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Wireless
Additional Services: Additional Services, Video Service
Website: https://mohawk-networks.com/

Mohawk Networks is an enterprise of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. The company uses fiber-to-the-home and fixed wireless technologies to offer high-speed Internet service to over 1500 subscribers. After winning a grant from the US Department of Agriculture’s Broadband Initiatives Program, the Tribe also invested its own capital to build a Reservation-wide fiber network. The construction was completed in 2015. The network also provides fixed wireless service to nearby or hard-to-reach areas, using both the Tribe’s 2.5 Ghz license and CBRS technology. To ensure the sustainability of the network, the enterprise is focused on maintaining customer satisfaction, continuously upgrading the network, and pursuing complementary funding streams. The community of Akwesasne is bisected by the US-Canada border, and grant funds have only been available for the US side so part of the community continues to lack access to high-speed, reliable Internet like that provided by Mohawk Networks.

Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation

Network Name: Saddleback Communications

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: https://saddlebackcomm.com/

Saddleback Communications is owned by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and has been in operation since 1997. Initially offering DSL services, the company now provides high-speed fiber-to-the-home Internet throughout the Community, as well as a number of other services for businesses. The company notes that it has invested millions of dollars over the last two decades to ensure that they provide the highest quality and most advanced network.

San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation

Network Name: Triplet Mountain Communications, Inc

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless, Fiber
Website: https://tripletmtn.com/about/

Triplet Mountain Communications, Inc is an off-Reservation subsidiary of San Carlos Apache Telecommunications Utility, Inc., owned by the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Triplet was incorporated in 2016 to bring broadband services to off-Reservation locations, primarily communities that were in the path of SCATUI backhaul infrastructure using fixed wireless last mile technologies. Triplet now offers services in at least two communities.

San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation

Network Name: San Carlos Apache Telecommunications Utility, Inc.

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Copper
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: https://scatui.com/internet-residential/

The San Carlos Apache Telecommunications Utility, Inc. was incorporated by the Tribe in 1994 in order to provide high-quality phone and Internet service to its members. The next year, the network purchased the existing US WEST telephone exchange in the area and began offering services, though the infrastructure only reached about a quarter of the population at the time. The Tribe subsequently invested large sums of money in expanding and upgrading the network, including by obtaining grants and loans from the US Department of Agriculture’s Broadband Initiatives Program and ReConnect programs. By 2016, the network had gone from serving only six hundred customers to more than 2500 and has grown since. The Tribe’s investment has also supported the transition from DSL to fiber-to-the-home. While some customers remain on DSL lines for now, the company has upgraded the connections of many subscribers to fiber.

Santa Fe Indian School

Network Name: Pueblo Education Network

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber

The Pueblo Education Network is a middle mile fiber broadband network operated by the Santa Fe Indian School. The fiber network connects educational institutions and Community Anchor institutions in the Pueblos of Isleta, Acoma, Zuni, Zia, Santo Domingo, and Jemez. The project has been in the works since 2015 and built in stages. An earlier phase of the project used funding from the state of New Mexico to connect Santa Fe Indian School to Albuquerque. Supported by the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, the network has expanded substantially, now reaching five hundred miles. The middle mile and Institutional network will ensure students and educational institutions have access to reliable, high-speed Internet and also facilitate the growth of residential ISPs owned by the Pueblos. The network was also the first Tribally-owned broadband infrastructure to use the Fast-41 permitting system.

Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians

Network Name: Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians

Status: Expected

Santa Ynez has been working in phases on bringing better Internet connectivity to its Reservation. The Tribe won a grant with a partner to plan for a fiber ring serving Tribal lands, and used funding from the state of California to do feasibility studies, planning, and design. In August 2024, the Tribe was awarded an infrastructure grant form the state of California to begin to deploy the planned fiber-to-the-home network.

Santee Sioux Nation

Network Name: Santee Communications

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: https://www.facebook.com/SanteeWireless/

Santee Sioux Nation purchased Dryad Communications in 2020, which became the basis for the Tribe’s wireless Internet service provider, Santee Communications. Dryad had constructed communications towers that reached about a third of the Tribe’s population. Building on this infrastructure, the Tribe sought to find other funding and partners that would allow it to expand the reach of the network and upgrade the reliability and speeds the WISP could offer. A Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant is supporting the construction of additional towers, and American Rescue Plan Act funding allowed the Tribe to begin planning for a more robust network. Santee Communications now uses the 2.5 Ghz license the Tribe obtained in the Tribal Priority Window to operate an LTE network. The Tribe may also be working on a partnership with the Nebraska Indian Community College.

Sauk Suiattle Indian Tribe

Network Name: Sauk Suiattle Indian Tribe

Status: Prospective

The Sauk Suiattle Indian Tribe has expressed interest in broadband in the past and may have worked with Port Skagit on getting backhaul. The Tribe received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant but current status of plans and ownership are not available.

Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Network Name: Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Status: Expected

In 2022, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribal Council incorporated a Broadband Utility Authority. Over the following two years, the Tribe won two grants from the US Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect program to begin building a fiber-to-the-home network. The Tribe has indicated in the past that it intends to own the infrastructure, but may consider using a vendor to manage the network, at least initially. Further information about the status of the deployment is not currently available publicly.

Seminole Nation of Oklahoma

Network Name: HASNOK Community ISP

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless

The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma has been ramping up its plans and investments in broadband infrastructure over the last few years. Using a grant from the US Department of Agriculture's Community Connect program won in 2017, the Tribe constructed a wireless Internet network that served some government buildings and residents in the units of the Seminole Nation Housing Authority. That network is operated by the Tribe’s IT department. Building on this success, the Tribe applied for and won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant award to build a fiber backbone and fiber-to-the-home network that will serve households, businesses, and anchor institutions.

Seminole Tribe of Florida

Network Name: Seminole Tribe of Florida

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber

The Seminole Tribe of Florida is making advances in connecting residents of its Reservations. The Tribe currently maintains an Institutional network that serves some of their government buildings and is working on proposals to build communications towers and, eventually, a fiber network that will connect its Reservations and member homes. Florida recently awarded the Tribe a grant to support their broadband projects and other funding opportunities continue to be explored.

Seneca Nation of Indians

Network Name: Seneca Energy

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Website: https://sni.dftcommunications.com/

The Seneca Nation of Indians has built a high-speed fiber-to-the-home and fixed wireless broadband network, currently being operated by DFT Communications. The project was supported by a US Department of Agriculture ReConnect grant and a Tribal capital investment, which included American Rescue Plan Act funding. The network is now live and offers speeds of up to 500 Mbps download to subscribers on the Cattaraugus Territory.

Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota

Network Name: Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community began planning a fiber-to-the-home network in 2013 and started building the network two years later. The network now provides FTTH services to every resident of the community. The Tribe has also been instrumental in supporting community broadband initiatives elsewhere, providing grants to other Tribes working on building Internet infrastructure and partnering with the surrounding county to support mutually beneficial fiber build-outs.

Sherwood Valley Rancheria

Network Name: Sherwood Valley Rancheria

Status: Prospective

Sherwood Valley Rancheria applied for and received a 2.5 GHz license in the Tribal Priority Window and has won funding from the state of California to develop a broadband action plan. No further information is available on that planning process.

Shinnecock Indian Nation

Network Name: Shinnecock Indian Nation

Status: Expected

Shinnecock Indian Nation has taken several steps to build broadband infrastructure on Tribal lands. The Tribe created a committee to study the connectivity needs of the community and received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to build a fiber and fixed wireless hybrid network. In 2023, Native Network, Inc. announced that they were working with the Shinnecock Indian Nation to build the network. Further information about the construction of the network is not currently available.

Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe

Network Name: Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe

Status: Expected

The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to deploy fiber to a community anchor institution and develop a fixed wireless network using the Tribe’s 2.5 GHz license. Further information about the construction of the network or plans for an ISP is not currently available.

Shoshone Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation

Network Name: Shoshone Bannock Tribes

Status: Expected

The Shoshone Bannock Tribes have plans to install middle mile infrastructure as well as a fiber-to-the-home and fixed wireless hybrid last mile network. The Shoshone Bannock Tribes received a Tribal broadband Connectivity Program grant to support this work, and is also engaged in extensive digital equity work to close the digital divide in their communities. Further information about the construction of the network is not currently available.

Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation

Network Name: Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation

Status: Prospective

The Shoshone-Paiute Tribes received support from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to perform a broadband feasibility study. The Tribe had previously indicated an interest in exploring a broadband business plan. No further information is available on that planning process.

Skokomish Indian Tribe

Network Name: Skokomish Indian Tribe

Status: Expected

The Skokomish Indian Tribe were awarded a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to advance plans to utilize the Tribe’s 2.5 GHz license to connect households, community anchor institutions, and businesses. Further information about the construction of the network is not currently available.

Southern California Tribal Chairman's Association

Network Name: Southern California Tribal Digital Village

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://sctca.net/southern-california-tribal-digital-village/

This network is a project of the Southern California Tribal Chairman’s Association, a consortium of 25 federally-recognized Tribes in Southern California. In 2001, SCTCA launched the Tribal Digital Village Network (TDV Net) to bring Internet access to the communities. While limited at first to community anchor institutions, the network quickly expanded and began offering residential services. The network operates more than 650 miles of wireless point-to-point and point-to-multipoint links on both licensed and unlicensed spectrum, providing services to over 100 community buildings and four hundred households. TDV Net has been built gradually over the years using funding from Hewlett Packard, federal E-Rate funding, the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, and Tribal investment.

Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation

Network Name: Southern Ute Indian Tribe

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Website: https://bonfirefiber.net/

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s planning for a network began in 2019, and commitment to the initiative grew when COVID hit, exposing in sharp relief the impact of slow speeds and unaffordable prices. In 2020, the Tribe pursued and was awarded a 2.5 Ghz license in the Tribal Priority Window and initially focused network development on a wireless last mile solution. However, when new funding opportunities arose and after further deliberation, the Tribe opted to pursue an open access, fiber-to-the-home network, using the Tribe’s 2.5 Ghz license as a supplement to enhance connectivity and communication services. The Tribe elected to partner with Bonfire Infrastructure Group to manage the open access network. The project has received financial support from the state of Colorado, the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, and the Tribe’s own investment. The first phase of the project, the necessary middle mile infrastructure, was completed in 2023. The Town of Ignacio was the first community to be lit up with fiber-to-the-home service in the summer of 2024, with several additional communities scheduled for the fall before the project is ultimately completed in Fall of 2025.

Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation

Network Name: SP‘Q’N’I? Broadband Services

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://www.spokanetribe.com/government/public-works/isp/

The Spokane Tribe has been working hard over the last few years to close the connectivity gap. In 2020, the Tribe allocated Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding to support the construction of communications towers and in 2021 launched a Tribally-owned wireless Internet service provider, Sp’q’ni’i? Broadband Services, managed by the Tribe’s public works department. By 2023, the Tribe was operating four towers across the Reservation to bring services to over three hundred households, and the network was growing. In 2022, the Tribe was awarded a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant that will help them upgrade their network by installing fiber middle mile and beginning a fiber-to-the-home network construction.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota

Network Name: Standing Rock Telecom

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://www.standingrocktelecom.com/

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe launched Standing Rock Telecom in 2008. The company became an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier, which allows it to offer Federally subsidized Lifeline phone service. Standing Rock Telecom now offers phone, cellular, and fixed wireless Internet service in a number of communities on the Reservation. A Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant will allow the network to upgrade existing communication towers and deploy several new towers to expand the network’s reach.

Stockbridge Munsee Community

Network Name: Stockbridge Munsee Community

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Additional Services: Additional Services, Video Service

The Stockbridge Munsee Community worked with Wittenberg Telephone in 2020 to bring fiber-to-the-home Internet to the community. While Wittenberg Telephone operates the network, SMC retained ownership of the fiber that was installed. SMC and Wittenberg Telephone continue to explore options for expanding their partnership.

Suquamish Indian Tribe

Network Name: Suquamish Indian Tribe

Status: Prospective

The Suquamish Indian Tribe operates a public WiFi network across more than a hundred access locations. The Tribe may also be developing a broadband program.

Susanville Indian Rancheria

Network Name: Susanville Indian Rancheria

Status: Prospective

After receiving funding through the National Tribal Broadband Grant for broadband planning, Susanville Indian Rancheria won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to advance a plan to develop fixed wireless Internet service. Further information about the status of the project or ownership of the planned network is not currently available.

Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona

Network Name: Tohono O'odham Utility Authority

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Wireless, Copper
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: https://toua.net/internet/

The Tohono O'odham Utility Authority was established in 1970, and provides telephone, electric, water, cellular, propane, and Internet services to the Tohono O'odham Nation. TOUA has been offering Internet services since 1998. Initially, TOUA used DSL technology, backed in part by fiber that was installed to support telephone service. TOUA leveraged support from the Broadband Initiatives Program in 2010 to build out its fiber middle mile and begin transitioning to fiber-to-the-home services for residents and businesses. Now, TOUA has completed over 75% of its fiber-to-the-home builds, and expects to reach 100% within a few years. TOUA also utilizes wireless service to reach more remote locations and provide network resiliency. TOUA currently serves over 2000 subscribers. The company continues to look for ways to improve the network and incorporate digital equity activities to ensure residents are able to make full use of TOUA’s reliable and high-speed Internet offerings.

Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation

Network Name: Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation

Status: Prospective

Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation has received financial support from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and the state of California to perform broadband feasibility study and other activities. In 2024, the Tribe was recommended for a last mile infrastructure grant from the state.

Tonkawa Tribe

Network Name: Tonkawa Tribe of Indians

Status: Prospective

The Tonkawa Tribe received Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program funding to advance a plan to deploy fixed wireless Internet service. Further information about the status of the project or ownership of the planned network is not currently available.

Tulalip Tribes of Washington

Network Name: Salish Networks

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home, Copper
Additional Services: Additional Services, Video Service
Website: https://www.salishnetworks.com/

Salish Networks has been offering telecommunications services, including Internet, phone, and cable TV, to residents and businesses on the Tulalip Reservation for over ten years. The network grew out of previous work done by the Tribe to get government buildings connected via fiber and provide cable services to residents. Investing its own resources, the Tribe began offering services to customers via DSL initially. More recently, Salish Networks has also begun deploying fiber infrastructure to serve residents on the Reservation, offering residential speeds at up to 300 Mbps.

Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation

Network Name: Tule River Telecommunications Department

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Additional Services: Voice Service
Website: https://tulerivertribe-nsn.gov/telecom/

The Tule River Indian Tribe completed construction on a fiber-to-the-home build in 2009, supported in part by a grant from the US Department of Agriculture and the state of California. The Tribe continues to work to expand the network, noting that certain conditions make bringing the infrastructure to every residence costly for the telco and some families still struggle to pay for the cost of connection. A Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant in 2023 will help the Tribe extend the network to more unserved households on the Reservation.

Upper Sioux Community

Network Name: Upper Sioux Telecommunications

Status: Active
Technology: Fiber-to-the-Home
Website: https://www.uppersiouxcommunity-nsn.gov/telecommunications

The Upper Sioux Community finished building a fiber-to-the-home network to bring the Internet to the community in 2007. The project was completed in stages beginning in 2005 after the Tribe recognized the severe lack of reliable, high-speed Internet under an incumbent provider. The network is operated as USC Communications, which continues to offer Internet and other services to residents of the community.

Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation

Network Name: Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless, Fiber

The Ute Indian Tribe is pursuing a Tribally-owned retail fiber and fixed wireless hybrid network, making use of the Tribe’s 2.5 Ghz license. After winning a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant for that project in 2022, with planning and deployment underway. More than a decade ago, the Tribe won a Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program grant to install fiber middle mile and begin construction of an Institutional network connecting community anchor institutions, schools, and government offices. Little information is publicly available about the current status of that network.

Ute Mountain Ute Tribe

Network Name: Ute Mountain Communications Enterprise

Status: Expected

The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe obtained a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant in 2023 to deploy middle mile fiber infrastructure and fiber-to-the-home service to the White Mesa Community. The Tribe had spent several years developing a broadband plan and strategies for bringing high-speed broadband to Tribal lands that span Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. In a sign of the Tribe’s commitment, broadband planning has been incorporated into its current strategic plan. Financial support from the state of Colorado will support infrastructure investment in those regions. The Tribe also incorporated the Ute Mountain Ute Communications Enterprise to manage the broadband project. Further information about the timeline or status of these construction projects is not currently available.

Walker River Paiute Tribe

Network Name: Walker River Paiute Tribe

Status: Prospective

The Walker River Paiute Tribe received a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to deploy a fiber network to serve the community, however further information about the status of the project or ownership of the planned network is not currently available.

Wichita and Affiliated Tribes

Network Name: Wichita and Affiliated Tribes

Status: Prospective

The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes have been working towards a broadband solution for some time. Plans include a hybrid fiber and last mile fixed wireless network. The Tribe is currently pursuing grant opportunities to realize this plan.

Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska

Network Name: Winnebago Tribe

Status: Expected

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska has made gradual investments into high-speed Internet infrastructure over the past few years. In 2020, the Tribe laid some middle mile fiber to create an Institutional network of Tribal government buildings. In 2022, after winning a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant award, the Tribe began a significant deployment to expand the reach of that fiber backbone and install a fiber-to-the-home network to serve residents of the Reservation. Further information about the timeline or status of these construction projects is not currently available.

Winnemucca Indian Colony

Network Name: Winnemucca Indian Colony

Status: Expected

The Winnemucca Indian Colony won a Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to construct a communications tower fed by fiber to make fixed wireless Internet service available and undertake a small fiber-to-the-home build. Further information about the timeline or status of these construction projects is not currently available.

Yavapai-Apache Nation

Network Name: Yavapai-Apache Nation

Status: Prospective

Yavapai-Apache Nation has expressed interest in developing a Tribally-owned Fiber-to-the–Home Internet service provider. Further information about the status of the project is not currently available.

Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation

Network Name: Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation

Status: Prospective

The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has expressed interest in deploying a wireless Internet service to planned housing. Further information about the status of the project or ownership of the planned network is not currently available.

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo

Network Name: YDSP Internet

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://www.ysletadelsurpueblo.org/internet

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo provides free wireless Internet service in both residential districts of the Pueblo. The network was begun in 2021, with the Pueblo contracting with Webatron Internet Solutions to install and manage the network. The network advertises speeds up to 100 Mbps.

Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation

Network Name: Yurok Connect

Status: Active
Technology: Wireless
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Yurokconnect/

Yurok Connect, the Yurok Tribe’s wireless Internet service provider, has been in service since 2013, offering speeds of up to 10 Mbps in several communities on the Reservation. The network was initially launched with support from a US Department of Agriculture Community Connect grant, which supported the construction of a single communications tower. The network is now deployed on eight towers. The Tribe later used Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding to upgrade their network equipment. The network currently serves several hundred customers. In 2021, the Tribe also founded the Yurok Telecommunications Corporation to build a fiber-to-the-home network and fiber middle mile. It appears that Yurok Telecommunications Corporation may fully absorb Yurok Connect, but at present Yurok Connect continues to offer services under this name.

Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation

Network Name: Yurok Telecommunications

Status: Expected

Yurok Telecommunications was incorporated in 2021 by the Yurok Tribe to lead the Tribe in a new fiber-to-the-home endeavor alongside the Tribe’s existing wireless Internet service provider, Yurok Connect. Yurok Telecom has won a number of grants, including from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and the state of California, to complete the project. The company has also agreed to lease portions of its middle mile infrastructure to the state of California in a historic partnership.

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