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Serving as the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma’s tribal broadband manager is no small task considering the reservation is larger than many states.
By Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Robert Griffin leads broadband initiatives for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and said part of his job is to collect information from vendors, ISPs, and other tribal communities so it can be organized and considered for future deployments.
Speaking to Beyond the Cable at the Connected America 2026 conference in April, Griffin said the Choctaw Nation has been applying for broadband-related grants since 2017 and has been awarded over $75 million.
Now, he says the Choctaw Nation has reached 85% internet coverage on their reservation, which is larger than Massachusetts in square mileage.
That’s up from only 49% coverage in 2016, Griffin says.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, located in the southeast portion of the state, has over 200,000 tribal members.
As the tribal broadband manager for the Choctaw Nation, Griffin also said a main focus of his centers on working with dozens of other tribal nations across the United States and Canada. With those efforts, Griffin said he helps others figure out how to deliver broadband to very rural areas and how to navigate through government red tape.
In his experience, he also says people can additionally be uneducated about how tribal nations work.
“We are sovereign nations, which means we operate independently, ” he said.
Griffin elaborated later on that thought, saying that partnerships involving tribal nations are earned endeavors.
“Someone might say, ‘why is it worth the effort?'” he asked. “Well, when you actually are able to partner with a tribal nation and spend that time, you have developed a relationship that can last a lifetime.”
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