A new report published today by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) reveals how the sovereignty of Tribal Nations and their own efforts to solve connectivity challenges on Tribal lands can be undermined by the poor design and maze of bureaucracy associated with some federal broadband programs.

The report – Native Nations and Federal Telecom Policy Failures: Lessons from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund [pdf] – begins with a startling example of how one Tribe learned about the plans of a major fiber Internet provider to serve “a handful of locations in the heart of the Tribal Reservation.”

Authored by Dr. Jessica Auer, Tribal Broadband Policy Analyst with ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks initiative, the report captures the pernicious consequences of a program that was supposed to help bring high-speed Internet service to rural communities who lacked access:

A non-Tribal telecommunications company had received federal funding to build broadband infrastructure on Tribal lands without consent, had appeared to shirk required federal Tribal engagement requirements, had ignored the Tribe’s attempt to raise concerns about it, and now seemed to be expecting to dictate what would happen next.

While the report begins with a real-life example of how Tribal nations now working to build their own broadband networks can be blindsided by bureaucratic neglect and non-Tribal ISPs, it goes on to detail why the FCC’s approach to broadband funding has fostered tension between providers and Tribal ISPs, and why RDOF has earned a particularly bad reputation among many Tribes.

“Some recent federal broadband programs do actually require ISPs to secure Tribal consent prior to receiving funds,” Auer says. “But, the FCC still has not adopted this approach. The problems outlined in this report reinforce the need for such a requirement.”

The White House, in coordination with the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Commerce Department, has kicked off a major push to get more of the estimated 52 million eligible households across the nation to take advantage of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

Established with the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law, the ACP provides a $30 monthly subsidy for qualified low-income households to pay for home Internet service, as well as a one-time $100 subsidy to help pay for an Internet-connected device. (Eligible households on Tribal land get a $75/month subsidy).

The FCC recently announced $66 million in grant awards to help states boost ACP enrollment, which has come to be seen as being notoriously complicated among those working in the field.

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And on Monday, the White House hosted a webinar with three national nonprofit organizations to announce the launch of an “Online for All” campaign aimed at helping more families enroll with what they called “user-friendly tools” and digital navigator support for community organizations and state governmental entities.

Call to Boost Anemic ACP enrollment

The nationwide push to get more ACP-eligible households enrolled in the program comes because, even a year after the ACP was first established, only “16 million (of 52 million) households are participating. We need to double down on that. We need your help more than ever,” one White House official told digital equity advocates and Internet service providers invited to Monday’s webinar.

As we head into the holiday break, we present you with a bit of commentary made possible by a practical gift created by our GIS and Data Visualization Specialist Christine Parker.

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You can read about it in The Daily Yonder, who published our piece on the challenge process for the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) new Broadband Availability Map.

It details why it’s important to make the map as accurate as possible and points readers to Christine’s short videos and PDF walk-through guide on how to file a challenge.

You can find it here.

Happy Holidays!

On January 1st, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission launched the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) with $14.2 billion in funding designed to help American households pay for the monthly cost of their Internet subscription. In May, we published a story about the fate of the program, based on a prediction model we built that was intended to visualize how long we might expect the $14.2 billion fund to last before needing new Congressional appropriations to sustain it. Back then, the data showed that the fund would run out some time in 2024.

We’re back today not only with a new and improved model (based both on more granular geographic data and fed by an additional 16 weeks of enrollment data), but a new dashboard that pulls together a host of information from the Universal Service Administrative Company on where and how the Affordable Connectivity Program money is being spent. 

A New Resource for Broadband Advocates, Local Policy Makers, and Elected Officials

Located at ACPdashboard.com, this new resource from ILSR includes information local broadband advocates, nonprofits, state legislators, and policy makers need to know about where enrollment efforts and expended funds stand today. It includes a breakdown by state for how enrollment numbers stand (as well as an estimate for the amount spent in each state so far), the current national eligible enrollment rate, information for 30 metropolitan areas, how much is being spent on service support versus devices, how many households are using the ACP for mobile versus wireline service, and the total left in the ACP fund. Our new prediction model shows that a little more than $410 million is leaving the bank account every month. 

On January 1st, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission launched the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) with $14.2 billion in funding designed to help American households pay for the monthly cost of their Internet subscription. In May, we published a story about the fate of the program, based on a prediction model we built that was intended to visualize how long we might expect the $14.2 billion fund to last before needing new Congressional appropriations to sustain it. Back then, the data showed that the fund would run out some time in 2024.

We’re back today not only with a new and improved model (based both on more granular geographic data and fed by an additional 16 weeks of enrollment data), but a new dashboard that pulls together a host of information from the Universal Service Administrative Company on where and how the Affordable Connectivity Program money is being spent. 

A New Resource for Broadband Advocates, Local Policy Makers, and Elected Officials

Located at ACPdashboard.com, this new resource from ILSR includes information local broadband advocates, nonprofits, state legislators, and policy makers need to know about where enrollment efforts and expended funds stand today. It includes a breakdown by state for how enrollment numbers stand (as well as an estimate for the amount spent in each state so far), the current national eligible enrollment rate, information for 30 metropolitan areas, how much is being spent on service support versus devices, how many households are using the ACP for mobile versus wireline service, and the total left in the ACP fund. Our new prediction model shows that a little more than $410 million is leaving the bank account every month. 

The application deadline for the Capital Projects Fund, which will direct $100 million in federal funding to Tribal governments to build broadband infrastructure, has been extended to August 15th, 2022. It's a relateively simple application, offering $167,000 in grant funds to each Tribal government.

The fund explicitly emphasizes capital outlay for new infrastructure projects. From the Department of Treasury, uses include:

Capital assets designed to directly enable work, education, and health monitoring.

Project[s] designed to address a critical need that resulted from or was made apparent or exacerbated by the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Project[s] designed to address a critical need of the community to be served by it.

Examples of projects provided by the Treasury include:

Purchasing digital connectivity devices, such as desktop computers, laptops, or tablets, to facilitate internet access

Purchasing digital connectivity technologies, such as public Wi-Fi, to facilitate internet access

Supplementing another federal government broadband program (e.g., Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, NTIA Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, or other funds) that meet minimum service standards provided by the Capital Projects Fund Guidance

Installing or enhancing broadband infrastructure to serve communities by meeting minimum service standards provided by the Capital Projects Fund Guidance

Constructing or improving buildings, such as multi-purpose community centers, that are designed to jointly enable work, education, and health monitoring

It's worth pointing out, via the Treasury guidance page, that "as of April 4, 2022, applicants are required to provide a Universal Entity ID (UEID) number when applying for CPF funds, and will no longer need to provide a DUNS number." More instructions here.

Additional resources: