FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 21, 2023 CONTACT: Melissa Kaszuba 732-865-6687, melissa@uriascommunications.com
Tribal Ready’s Virtual Tribal Broadband Office helps tribes access testing tools and information that will more accurately record broadband maps
Washington, D.C. – Tribal Ready, a Native American-owned-and-governed company with decades of experience in communication network design and delivery to unserved and underserved areas, is launching an outreach program to ensure that Indian Country is accurately mapped for broadband access. Accurate broadband mapping is essential for Tribes to receive funding from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.
Funds from the program are allocated based on an FCC map known as the Fabric. Estimates indicate that location data in the Fabric may be incorrect in the vast majority of cases in rural areas, either by omission or error. Tribal Ready helps Native communities challenge the data and advocate for their concerns about the process.
“It is incumbent on Tribal leaders, citizens, and allies to gather data on a scale large enough to ensure that Tribal nations receive the billions of dollars that are available and necessary to complete broadband expansion projects,” said Joe Valandra, CEO of Tribal Ready. “Tribal Ready has created a Virtual Tribal Broadband Office to give Tribes free speed testing tools and information that will make it possible for them to access their fair share of funding.”
It’s estimated that Indian Country should receive at least $5 billion from the BEAD program if the data were accurate…..