Part ofbroadband →

FEDERALhearing transcript

High Impact

Senate Hearing on Tribal Broadband Internet Access

Original title: GAO REPORTS RELATING TO BROADBAND INTERNET AVAILABILITY ON TRIBAL LANDS

January 1, 2019

broadband tribal affairs internet access telecommunications GAO reports infrastructure

Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.

The Frame

What this does

The hearing addresses the in Indian Country, where 35.4% of residents lack access compared to 7.7% of the general U.S. population, impacting economic, educational, and health outcomes.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Tribal residents

They experience significantly lower rates of broadband access compared to the rest of the U.S. population.

Federal Communications Commission

The agency is tasked with improving its data collection methods for tribal broadband access.

Rural Utilities Service

The agency is tasked with identifying and addressing regulatory barriers that impede tribal access to funding.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2019.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing to review two U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports regarding the lack of broadband internet access on tribal lands. The reports highlight that current FCC data overstates access and that regulatory barriers prevent tribes from accessing Rural Utilities Service (RUS) funding.

Key Facts

As of December 2016, 35.4% of tribal residents lacked access to fixed broadband services, compared to 7.7% of the rest of the U.S. population.
The GAO report released September 7, 2018, found that FCC data overstates broadband access on tribal lands.
The GAO recommended that the FCC improve data collection methods to accurately measure tribal broadband access.
The GAO report released September 28, 2018, found that few partnerships exist for tribal broadband deployment.
The GAO recommended that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) identify and address regulatory barriers preventing tribes from obtaining broadband funding.
The hearing was held on October 3, 2018, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
A third GAO report regarding the acquisition of spectrum by Indian tribes is pending release.

Why It Matters

The hearing addresses the in Indian Country, where 35.4% of residents lack access compared to 7.7% of the general U.S. population, impacting economic, educational, and health outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is broadband access lower on tribal lands?

The hearing identified that current FCC data collection methods overstate existing access and that regulatory barriers make it difficult for tribes to secure funding from the Rural Utilities Service.

What is the government doing about this?

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is reviewing GAO recommendations to improve data collection and remove regulatory barriers to funding.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Data Accuracy Focus

The hearing marks a shift toward questioning the accuracy of FCC data as a prerequisite for solving the tribal broadband gap.

Federal Communications Commission U.S. Government Accountability Office

Connected Entities

personGeoffrey C. Blackwell“Chief Strategy Officer/General Counsel, Amerind Risk Management Corporation”Map →

organizationU.S. Government Accountability Office“Author of the reports being reviewed”Map →

personJohn Hoeven“Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs”Map →

organizationRural Utilities Service“USDA agency responsible for funding rural broadband”Map →

organizationFederal Communications Commission“Regulator of broadband data collection”Map →

personMark Goldstein“Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office”Map →

personPatrick Webre“Chief, Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission”Map →

personTom Udall“Vice Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs”Map →

personGodfrey Enjady“President, National Tribal Telecommunications Association”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance85
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy20
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment5
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz10
Current news / social attention level

Publisher tools