In November 2017, about 200 people attended the first Indigenous Connectivity Summit in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The summit brought together activists, network administrators, researchers, and many more to consider the successes and challenges in improving Internet access in indigenous communities. The Internet Society has released the Indigenous Connectivity Summit Community Report outlining next steps on leaving the summit.

I was on the ground in Santa Fe and experienced first-hand the collaborative discussions that took place. Although brief, this report contains the key takeaways from these conversations. The saying, “for the Community, with the Community, by the Community,” appears as a title in the report and was a constant refrain during the summit. If we are to have affordable, reliable Internet access in our communities, we must have an active role in creating the solution.

Highlights from the Report

The ten page document outlines recommendations on what will make this possible. Some of these action items are creating sustainable connectivity and building capacity within our communities. Policies that can support these goals include making spectrum easier to access, developing collaborative backhaul solutions, and collecting better data on connectivity. 

The report underscores how Internet access relates to native nations’ autonomy and self-determination. Internet access can support cultural revitalization and language preservation as well as economic development. The summit offered a creative space to dive into the details and learn from one another. 

More Info

Read the report on the Internet Society’s website or download it here If you want to get into more details or to experience the summit for yourself, watch a recording of the event:

In addition to municipal networks and rural cooperatives, Native American Tribal Governments have been instrumental in recent years in bringing better connectivity to rural areas. Many large incumbent providers won’t serve tribal lands because, as with other rural areas, they don’t consider the investment profitable. As a result, some of these communities have exercised their own resourcefulness and invested themselves through a range of creative solutions.

In order to share discoveries and methodology, the Internet Society has organized the Indigenous Connectivity Summit in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The event started this morning and runs through tomorrow. The agenda includes presentations from all types of experts who’ve worked on tribal community networks and topics cover business models, advocating, digital tools, and a range of other matters.

Check out the agenda here.

We realize this is last minute, but the folks at the Summit are live streaming the event so you can still almost be there.

You can also watch the event on Facebook.

In May, Chris introduced you to Sean Moody from Santa Fe's Economic Development Division, to explain how the community was investing in a new fiber link to better serve the local business community. With a little competition, Santa Fe officials expect more choice, better connectivity, and improved services.

CenturyLink controls the community's only connection to the Internet and the line bringing access to the web into the downtown district. Santa Fe's $1 million investment creates another path to encourage other providers to compete. Residents in Santa Fe pay approximately $50 per month for average speeds of 5 Megabits per second (Mbps) while nearby Albuquerque pays the same for 10 Mbps.

The situation may soon change.

On Monday, December 14th, the community will celebrate the investment as they "Flip the Switch and Connect Santa Fe to the Future." The event will take place at the Santa Fe City Offices and will begin at 9 a.m. Mayor Javier M. Gonzales will flip the switch at 10 a.m. to activate Santa Fe’s very first gigabit-speed Internet connection.

From the announcement:

Mayor Gonzales and the City’s Economic Development Division invite you to celebrate activating the first gigabit district in Santa Fe through Santa Fe Fiber, the City’s innovative broadband infrastructure project.

...

On Monday, December 14th from 9 until 11 AM Mayor Gonzales will be joined by special industry guests to flip the switch and experience first-hand the power and potential of gigabit-speed Internet delivered over the City’s newly completed fiber optic backbone. The community is invited to bring devices and try out the new speed!

The City of Santa Fe is taking first steps to improve the community's Internet choice, quality, and availability. Recently, the City announced that it has chosen a partner for a middle mile investment and will move forward with the $1 million fiber deployment project.

CenturyLink and Comcast serve Santa Fe, home to approximately 70,000 people. Residents and businesses both complain about slow speeds and relatively high costs. Residents pay $50 per month for average speeds of 5 Mbps while nearby Albuquerque pays the same price for 10 Mbps, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

CenturyLink owns the sole fiber hut connecting the community with the Internet. The company also owns the line bringing access to the web to downtown, giving it control over data transmittal in the city. A city press release, reprinted at SantaFe.com in May 2013 described the problem:

Every home and most businesses already have two physical routes to the Internet: A telephone line and a television cable...But in spite of this abundance of pathways, there is a crucial missing link in the infrastructure, an enduring legacy of the former telephone monopoly. This missing link spans from the central telephone office to a location about two miles away where several fiber optic cables emerge from the ground after traversing many miles of road, railroad and countryside from remote junctions across the state. Absent this two-mile link, local providers have only one way to connect to the outside world, and must pay a steep toll on the data transmitted over it. 

The City recently announced that it would work with local ISP Cyber Mesa to build an independent line from downtown to CenturyLink's fiber hut. The City hopes the line will introduce much needed competition, encouraging better service and prices.