Grants valued at $51 million were awarded for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
The announcement that Doyon, Limited and Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission in Alaska were the grant recipients was made during an Internet for All roundtable in Fairbanks, Alaska, according to an Aug. 11 Department of Commerce news release.
“The digital divide on our Tribal lands, especially in remote Alaska, is stark,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in the release. "The necessary investment through the Biden-Harris Internet for All initiative provides real change to these communities to participate in the digital economy, whether it’s education, health or jobs.”
Significant obstacles stand in the way of developing broadband infrastructure in Alaska, such as geography, terrain, climate and its vast size, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said, according to the release. She noted rural Alaska is no less deserving of connectivity.
“For the first time, some of Alaska’s most underserved communities will receive high-speed internet access made possible by the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Grant program,” she said in the release.
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson said it was humbling to see how the grants will positively affect Alaskan Natives’ daily lives “who have been disconnected for far too long,” the release reported.
