The National Telecommunications & Information Administration and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have struck an agreement that streamlines permitting for high-speed internet on tribal lands.

The idea is to coordinate the balance between the need for environmental and historical preservation and the need for universal high-speed access under the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program.

The agreement also streamlines the National Environmental Policy Act reviews for both NTIA, which oversees the bulk of broadband grant money, and BIA, which grants rights-of-way on protected lands.

The agreement was announced the same day that NTIA said it was adding $1 billion from the Infrastructure Act's tens of billions in broadband subsidies to the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, boosting the program total to $1.98 billion.

NTIA is going to need it. The agency said it has received more than 300 applications for over $5 billion in funding requests. Even with the new infusion, that leaves NTIA $3 billion-plus short if all those funding requests were granted.

The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program provides funding for broadband deployment, digital diversity, workforce training, digital skills, telehealth, and distance learning. ■

The FCC's Wireless Bureau has handed out 22 more grants in its tribal priority window for 2.5 GHz spectrum licenses.

That makes 179 such grants the FCC has made since opening the priority window Feb. 3-Sept. 2.

Also Read: FCC Releases More Tribal 2.5 GHz Applications

A politically divided FCC voted last July to convert the 2.5 GHz band from one reserved for educational (EBS) licenses to flexible licenses that can be used for 5G, and to auction current unassigned spectrum (white spaces) in the band. But before that auction, the FCC gave tribes a first-of-its-kind priority window to get spectrum for free to help close the rural digital divide on Native American land.

The FCC received over 400 applications for up to 117.5 MHz of spectrum, with the rest to be auctioned.

Also Read: New Bill Would Open Second Tribal Window For Free 5G Spectrum

The Democrats on the FCC saw the sunsetting of the EBS-controlled band as an abdication of an important educational mission, and strongly dissented on that part of the item. The Republicans said they were putting dramatically underused spectrum to its highest, best use--5G--and reforming "arcane" rules.

One thing the Democrats did support was giving the tribal communities a priority window to obtain unassigned spectrum to serve tribal lands--the only part they approved.

The FCC said 57 more Tribal applications for 2.5 GHz spectrum have passed initial muster, meaning they are complete and have sufficient information to process for further review, including providing time for public comment. 

The commission is auctioning spectrum in the band but before that gave Tribes a first-of-its-kind priority window to get spectrum for free to help close the rural digital divide in Indian Country.

The FCC announced its first group of 157 applications that passed their initial reviews in September, then approved 154 of those last month and granted them licenses.

The FCC received over 400 applications for up to 117.5 MHz of spectrum, with the rest to be auctioned.

Senate Democrats, joined by at least two Republican House members, have been trying to force the FCC to open a new window for Tribal groups to file for 2.5 GHz 5G spectrum.

Related: New Bill Would Open Second Tribal Window For Free 5G Spectrum

A politically divided FCC voted last July to convert the 2.5 GHz band from one reserved for educational (EBS) licenses to flexible licenses that can be used for 5G, and to auction current unassigned spectrum (white spaces) in the band.

The Democrats on the FCC saw the sunsetting of the EBS-controlled band as an abdication of an important educational mission, and strongly dissented on that part of the item. The Republicans said they were putting dramatically underused spectrum to its highest, best use--5G--and reforming "arcane" rules.

One thing the Democrats did support was giving the tribal communities a priority window to obtain unassigned spectrum to serve tribal lands--the only part they approved. 

Senate Democrats, joined by at least two Republican House members, are trying to force the FCC to open a new window for Tribal groups to file for 2.5 GHz 5G spectrum.

The FCC granted a one-month extension of the initial six-month filing window for rural Tribes from Aug. 3 to Sept. 2, but then closed it.

Related: FCC to Free Up 2.5GHz for 5G

Some Tribal entities and others had sought a six-month extension, citing the challenge of filing while dealing with a pandemic that is hitting Tribal areas particularly hard. But FCC chairman Ajit Pai explained the decision to only grant a 30-day decision this way: "A much longer extension would substantially delay our award of licenses to Tribal entities and thus delay their ability to use this spectrum to connect those consumers living on Tribal lands."  

The FCC has already announced the initial applicants.

But now Sens Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), along with almost a dozen other senators, have introduced a bill that would open a second, six-month, window to "allow Tribal Nations and Native Hawaiian organizations the time they need to apply for spectrum licenses for unassigned spectrum over their own lands—a critical step to expanding broadband access in their communities."

The Extending Broadband Tribal Priority Act of 2020 would require the window to open within 30 days of passage.

Among the bill's supporters, according to Wyden's office, include the National Consumer Law Center; New America's Open Technology Institute Public Knowledge; Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition; and the National Hispanic Media Coalition.

In addition to 11 other Democratic senators supporting the bill--Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) among them--are Republican Reps. Don Young (Alaska) and Tom Cole (Okla.).

A politically divided FCC voted last July to convert the 2.5 GHz band from one reserved for educational (EBS) licenses to flexible licenses that can be used for 5G, and to auction current unassigned spectrum (white spaces) in the band.

The Democrats on the FCC saw the sunsetting of the EBS-controlled band as an abdication of an important educational mission, and strongly dissented on that part of the item. The Republicans said they were putting dramatically underused spectrum to its highest, best use--5G--and reforming "arcane" rules.

One thing the Democrats did support was giving the tribal communities a priority window to obtain unassigned spectrum to serve tribal lands--the only part they approved. House Democrats had been concerned that an initial 60-day window was not enough time and made that concern known.

The FCC ultimately went with a six-month window.

The FCC said that 157 Tribal applications for 2.5 GHz 5G spectrum have passed their initial reviews.

The commission is auctioning spectrum in the band but before that gave Tribes a first-of-its-kind priority window to get spectrum for free to help close the digital divide in Indian Country.

Related: FCC 2.5 GHz Tribal Window Closes

The 157 applications have not been approved, but they have been deemed complete and will now be put out for public comment before final action.

Successful applicants will get up to 117.5 MHz of spectrum, with the rest of the spectrum to be auctioned next year.

“This FCC has taken aggressive action to address the digital divide on Tribal lands, and the 2.5 GHz Tribal Priority Window has been perhaps the most significant yet,” said FCC chairman Ajit Pai. “Tribal entities showed a strong interest in obtaining this spectrum, with over 400 applications received."

The FCC said more than 400 Tribal Entities applied for 2.5 GHz spectrum in the FCC's first-ever priority window for rural Tribes, which closed Sept. 2.

“Tribes showed tremendous interest in the 2.5 GHz band over the past several months, and I am pleased by the large number of applications the Commission has received. We are now a step closer to enabling Tribal entities to obtain this spectrum for free and quickly put it to use to bring service to rural Tribal lands,” said FCC chairman Ajit Pai. 

The FCC's staff will now review the applications, seek more info where necessary and put them out for public comment.

Related: House Dems Push Six-Month 2.5 GHZ Tribal Window Extension

The FCC is auctioning the 2.5 GHz spectrum for 5G but gave Tribes a chance at free midband spectrum covering Tribal lands to help close the digital divide in Indian country.

The window opened Feb. 3. The FCC did provide a 30-day extension for filing--from Aug. 3 until Sept. 2. But some Tribes had requested a six-month extension, citing difficulties in filing particularly given the pandemic. The FCC denied that request. Pai at the time said a longer extension "would substantially delay our award of licenses to Tribal entities and thus delay their ability to use this spectrum to connect those consumers living on Tribal lands."

“Tribes showed tremendous interest in the 2.5 GHz band over the past several months, and I am pleased by the large number of applications the Commission has received," Pai said Thursday. "We are now a step closer to enabling Tribal entities to obtain this spectrum for free and quickly put it to use to bring service to rural Tribal lands."

House Democrats are urging the FCC to give Tribal communities more time to apply for free 2.5 GHz spectrum for 5G.

The FCC is auctioning the spectrum, but is giving tribal communities an early window to apply for spectrum. That window opening Feb. 3 and the FCC it has over 200 applications for the spectrum.

Last month, the FCC did provide a 30-day extension--from Aug. 3 until Sept. 2--of the priority window for rural Tribes to file for free 2.5 GHz 5G spectrum before the FCC auctions it to the highest bidder. But some Tribal entities had sought an extension to the beginning of 2021, citing the challenge of filing while dealing with a pandemic that is hitting Tribal areas particularly hard.

But FCC chairman Ajit Pai said a longer extension would substantially delay our award of licenses to Tribal entities and thus delay their ability to use this spectrum to connect those consumers living on Tribal lands.

Energy and Commerce chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee chairman Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) sent a letter to Pai Wednesday (Aug. 19) asking for the 180-day extension.

“We are concerned that the FCC’s failure to provide adequate time for tribes to take full advantage of the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window means fewer tribes will be connected to lifesaving internet service,” they wrote. “The coronavirus has underscored that the digital divide is a deadly chasm, but the FCC can help address this issue. Tribes have been hit particularly hard during the COVID-19 pandemic, and high-speed internet service helps governments better succeed when it comes to public health interventions. The Rural Tribal Priority Window is one important remedy to the digital divide for Indian Country, but without more time, it will not succeed.”

Pallone and Doyle asked for a response by Aug. 28.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is not happy with the FCC's decision Friday to give Tribal communities an extra 30 days to apply for free 2.5 GHz spectrum before the FCC auctions it. 

The Tribal Priority Window (TPW) was to have closed Aug. 3, but FCC chair Ajit Pai, citing the pandemic, said it would be extended to Sept. 2, but no more, saying that was unnecessary and would delay the process of getting the spectrum to the folks who had already applied by that date. 

In response the NCAI, which had sought a 180-day stay, said the FCC had created "needless and harmful division between tribal nations." 

It said the Tribal Nations that had already applied would not be harmed by the longer extension because the FCC could grant special temporary authorities to use the spectrum, as it already has for several Tribal Nations. 

"The FCC must uphold its trust responsibility to Indian Country, especially during this unique time of need," NCAI said. "Failure to do so is unacceptable. NCAI will continue to advocate for an extension of the TPW – to enable all tribal nations the ability to access this critical resource – and calls upon Congress to pass legislation to ensure Indian Country has access to spectrum on tribal lands. 

The FCC is under pressure from some legislators and a host of groups to extend the Aug. 3 window for Native Americans to apply for free 2.5 GHz spectrum for mobile wireless before the FCC auctions it off to the highest bidder. 

They want a six-month extension. 

In a letter to the FCC Thursday (July 23) the groups said that "[b]y refusing to extend the Rural Tribal Priority Window, the FCC will prevent the vast majority of eligible Tribes from accessing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity--due to circumstances wholly outside of Tribal control."  

That would be the pandemic. The FCC has already granted the Navajo Nation temporary access to 2.5 GHz spectrum, but says that will not affect the eventual availability of that spectrum for the window/auction. 

The FCC has declined comment on whether or not it will extend the window, so it has not yet said definitively "no." 

Among those signing on to the letter, dated July 23, were Common Cause, Common Sense, Public Knowledge, INCOMPAS, New America’s Open Technology Institute, The National Tribal Telecommunications Association, and the United Methodist Church. 

The lack of affordable, high-speed broadband is a "significant impediment to the Navajo Nation’s growth and survival," Jonathan Nez, president of the Navajo Nation, told Congress Wednesday. 

Nez was a witness at a House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing on “Addressing the Urgent Needs of Our Tribal Communities.” 

Broadband was clearly one of those pressing needs. 

Related: COVID-19-Related Broadband Funding Bill Introduced

"The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that telework, telehealth, distance learning, skills training, and job opportunities, all depend on access to broadband, at home, at schools, in libraries, and in the workplace," he told the committee. "With the closure of the Navajo Nation’s main library branch in Window Rock, Arizona, the 110 Chapter Houses that serve as branch libraries and all the schools and universities located within the borders of the Navajo Nation, residents are struggling to have consistent and reliable access to broadband." 

Citing the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, Nez said that 60% of Navajo Nation’s residents lack fixed internet access, and what there is is a "patchwork of service providers that results in sporadic to non-existent connectivity." 

"I am frustrated to report that over half of our 110 Navajo communities lack any broadband access," he said, with the Navajo Nation not just on the wrong side of the digital divide, but "at the bottom of a digital chasm." 

But Nez said that with the help of Congress he thought they would be able to close that digital divide. 

Nez said the nation is finalizing a broadband plan and a network that would cost in the neighborhood of $300 million. He said the keys to reaching all of his people were "1) partnering with the Nation in connection with grants, subsidies, and other incentives to vet the recipient and the conditions of such awards to the recipient; 2) more awards of such grants and subsidies; and 3) streamlined rules and regulation by the Nation to allow for easier and faster, but responsible, deployment of towers and communications equipment on the Nation lands." 

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), chairman of the committee, focused his questioning on the digital divide because he said it was so "stark" on tribal lands. He said that given the impact of COVID-19, the lack of reliable high-speed internet means tribal lands are left out of healthcare services, education, employment opportunities, civic engagement and more, adding: "It is just unacceptable." 

Pallone pointed out that in the Moving Forward Act Democrats had allocated $5 billion to the FCC's E-Rate schools and libraries advanced communications subsidy program, with a specific guarantee for tribal schools and libraries. 

He asked if the Navajo Nation would benefit if that became law. 

Nez said the answer was "absolutely." But he also said that they were more focused on getting broadband into the home given that they were encouraging their people to shelter in place via stay-at-home orders. "If people are staying home, they will have to go to these libraries or chapter houses, which may get them exposed to the virus," he warned. "Our focus is to get high-speed into the homes where students could connect to their schools."

Related: Pai Says E-Rate Can't Go to Home Connectivity

Currently, the FCC interprets the E-Rate mandate from Congress as not allowing the money to be used for home broadband, but the Moving Forward Act would change that. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he would be happy to use the E-Rate for home connectivity, but Congress will need to change the language, which currently confines it to classrooms (and libraries). 

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), assistant Speaker of the House, are pressing their leadership to focus COVID-19-related rural broadband infrastructure support to historically underserved populations--people of color, those living on tribal lands. 

Related: COVID-19 Crisis Hits Industry

"Many healthcare centers, schools and small businesses in rural and tribal communities across the country have had difficulties carrying out their daily operations without reliable, efficient broadband access," they said. 

In a letter to the House and Senate leadership, they called for supporting public-private partnership secured loans, lines of credit and loan guarantees for broadband investments, a way to both deploy broadband and help struggling local businesses. 

They pointed out that the rural broadband gap disproportionately affects communities of color, including students, and that a third of those living on tribal lands lack access to high-speed broadband at home.

A just-released FCC report to Congress finds that while there has been progress in deploying broadband on tribal lands, more work needs to be done, particularly in the rural areas that are the FCC's focus for non-tribal lands as well. The FCC has pledged to open a proceeding "in the near" term to address that "challenge."

That is according to the Report on Broadband Deployment in Indian Country to the House and Senate Commerce Committees per the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (RAY BAUMS) Act of 2018, the FCC reauthorization legislation that included a number of FCC reports to Congress.

"[W]hile deployment to Tribal lands has increased in recent years, additional work remains to increase deployment to the certain Tribal areas and reach our goal of closing the digital divide for all Americans," the FCC told Congress.

The report showed that while 92% of urban Tribal lands have access to fixed terrestrial service of at least 25 Mbps/3 Mbps, just six percentage points lower than non-Tribal urban areas, the FCC's high-speed broadband target, just 46.6% of rural Tribal lands have similar access, a 27-point gap.

The FCC told Congress that among the challenges to getting broadband to Tribal lands are "rugged terrain, complex permitting processes governing access to Tribal lands, jurisdictional issues involving states and sovereign Tribal governments, lack of the necessary infrastructure, and a predominance of residential, rather than business, customers."

FCC chair Ajit Pai said it is his job to identify and acknowledge the digital divide, and more needs to be done to close that divide on tribal lands.

Pai spoke Wednesday (June 14) at a conference of the National Congress of American Indians in Uncasville, Conn.

"We’ll never address the challenges of isolated communities if we don’t first acknowledge them," Pai said. "And without question, rural Americans, including many in Indian Country, disproportionately find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide. They deserve our collective attention and they certainly have my personal attention."

Pai said it was important to meet community leaders on their own turf.

"It’s critical that the FCC engage with groups like NCAI, but to me, there’s no substitute for actually meeting with tribal leaders where they live," he said.

Prior to the conference, Pai had met with representatives of various tribes on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota last week during a five-state speaking and listening tour.

Among the steps the FCC is taking to close that divide, he said at the conference, are providing about $6 billion in Connect America and Mobility fund subsidies for broadband in unserved areas, including tribal lands, including $340 million to bring 4G LTE to tribal lands. There will also be a Remote Areas Fund that kicks in when the Connect America and Mobility Fund monies are used up, with additional money for still-unserved areas.

He also cited his proposal to remove obstacles to broadband buildouts -- which includes streamlining tower siting and historic preservation and environmental protection reviews -- though he said he had heard and recognized the need to protect "sacred properties," and would "continue to do so.

"[L]et me assure you that we also share a common commitment to respecting your history," he said.

Pai even waxed poetic. Quoting legendary Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, he said, "A very great vision is needed, and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky."

Pai said he did not pretend as grand a vision as Crazy Horse, and hoped for the "courage and focus" of the eagle, but he said he would work for opportunity for tribal members "now and to come."