Tribes granted $50 million for internet infrastructure

The Colville Indian Reservation will have greater internet access thanks to a large federal grant.

“The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation accepted a federal grant to construct internet infrastructure across the Colville Reservation in the amount of $48,405,830.78,” an Oct. 12 press release from the tribes reads. “Construction will occur over the next five years, and the specific final scope of the project is yet to be determined.

“Fiber will be connected directly to homes as much as possible. Where it is not possible, wireless services will be constructed with the goal of providing quality, high-speed internet access across the entire Colville Reservation.

“This grant was funded by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) with funds that Congress appropriated in the fiscal year 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act and the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“Each individual tribal applicant could receive a maximum of $50 million under the NTIA program. The Colville Tribes received the amount that it requested,” the tribal release said.

“A grant of this size is fantastic news for our people,” Colville Business Council Chairman Jarred-Michael Erickson said. “While it won’t fund everything we need by itself, it is certainly a big step forward. I want to thank all our staff who have worked hard to make this possible, including our Information Technology people such as Tiffany Circle, and our grant people like Matthew Pleasants. Our goal is to have a day in the near future when you can access the internet anywhere on the Reservation and get the same quality of connection that you could anywhere in the State of Washington.”