WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it has awarded 28 grants totaling $74,424,986.73 to 28 Tribal entities as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). 

With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these new grants bring the total of the program to more than $1.86 billion awarded to 226 Tribal entities. Record investments in high-speed internet deployment are a key part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. 

This funding from President Biden’s Internet for All initiative will help directly connect Tribal households and businesses to high-speed internet service, plan for future internet infrastructure investments, and upgrade network equipment. 

“Internet access allow us to attend medical appointments, sell products and services across the globe, and further our education. But too many members of Tribal communities are cut off from this essential service,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “These grants will bring us closer to closing the digital divide and ensure that Tribal communities are connected to the Internet and everything it has to offer.”

“In today’s world, the digital economy is the economy,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson. “In order for Tribal communities to thrive, they must have access to reliable high-speed Internet service. These grants will invest in communities to bring more internet access and build the base for future infrastructure projects.”

These awards are part of the Biden Administration’s commitment to nation-to-nation engagement and an effort to connect everyone in America, including Native Americans and Alaska Natives, to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet service.

In July, NTIA announced a second Notice of Funding Opportunity for an additional $970 million in funding from the TBCP program. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on January 23, 2024.

The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program is a nearly $3 billion grant program and part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All Initiative. The funds are made available from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ($2 billion) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 ($980 million). The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a historic $65 billion in funding to connect everyone in America.

These grants fulfill the TBCP’s equitable distribution requirement. This process, laid out in statute and in NTIA’s first TBCP Notice of Funding Opportunity, is intended to ensure that program funding is available to all eligible federally recognized Tribal governments that had a qualifying application.