Over the last 10 years, access to high-speed internet has increasingly felt like a necessity rather than a luxury, as our ability to work, learn, and socialize is severely hampered without it. The federal government has discussed classifying internet access as a utility rather than a commodity or luxury, which would cap prices and expand access. At present, however, no meaningful progress toward federally regulated internet is evident. To address this urgent need for high-speed internet access, the Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC) has applied for and been awarded a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) worth $1.2 million to expand educational access to broadband internet.

Rural America is far behind the rest of the country in terms of high-speed internet access. A 2019 FCC report showed that only 73% of rural Americans had access to broadband internet, defined as 25 megabytes per second download and 3 megabytes per second upload. The same report shows that only 67% of those living on tribal lands enjoy broadband internet. During the height of the pandemic, this meant that for every three students, only two of them could continue their education.

These numbers only represent theoretical access to internet—on the Omaha reservation, for instance, the NICC estimates that 95% of households lack access to broadband internet. Even basic internet access costs upward of $100 per month before various service and hardware charges. Residents in the City of Omaha, on the other hand, enjoy access to faster internet plans at less than a third of the cost.

Spearheaded by the NICC, the $1.2 million Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program will bring free educational broadband internet access to students on and around the Omaha and Santee reservations. Students who attend Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation Public School, Santee Public School, Walthill Public School, Bancroft Rosalie Public School, Pender Public Schools, and the NICC are all eligible for free educational home internet access.

NICC chief information officer Justin Kocian explains that student need for quality internet hasn’t gone away just because schools are back to in-person classes. “Even though students are back in the classroom, probably 80% or 85% of our classes are still online.”

The grant secured by the NICC is meant to expand on the existing tribal broadband wireless network. Federal pandemic relief CARES Act money funded the original network infrastructure, yet due to the topography of the local area, many students on the Omaha and Santee reservations are still unable to access the internet. Kocian states that the NTIA grant will expand the coverage area on the reservations from 30% to 90%.

“It’s really all about your vertical assets. The more towers you have, the better your coverage will be,” says Umoⁿhoⁿ Public Schools IT coordinator Kevin LaHood- Burns. “Our students will be able to utilize this program any time there’s something prohibiting them from being at school, whether it’s related to the pandemic or for other reasons.”

Four additional internet access towers will be built using the NTIA grant award. The towers will be 195 feet in height and occupy an acre of land each. Three of the towers will be on the Santee reservation and one in Bancroft, Nebraska, near the Omaha reservation. The towers will serve approximately 1,000 households in total.

Once the towers are erected, connected to the national network via fiber cable, and electrified, students within one mile of a tower will be able to use a simple mobile MiFi hotspot to bring internet into their home or school. For students who are outside of the MiFi coverage area, the NTIA grant will pay for home installation of mid- or long-range antennae that will connect households up to seven miles from an access tower.