Yesterday, Rep. Debra Haaland (D-NM) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced the “Extending Tribal Broadband Priority Act of 2020” to open a second 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window at the Federal Communications Commission with the goal of helping more Tribes apply for spectrum to connect their communities. Public Knowledge commends Rep. Haaland and Sen. Warren for their efforts to end the digital divide by ensuring that everyone has broadband access everywhere.

Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission closed its 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window, the agency’s first filing window designed to help rural Tribes secure spectrum needed to provide broadband for their communities.

Today, in a blow to Tribal communities, the Federal Communications Commission extended the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window (TPW) by just 30 days. This amount of time is not nearly enough to help Tribes that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, have faced enormous obstacles in applying for the available spectrum during the […]

Today, Public Knowledge joined nearly 50 public interest groups, tribal advocacy organizations, trade associations, and churches in a letter urging the Federal Communications Commission to extend the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window. The “Tribal Priority Window” allows tribes to apply to receive free spectrum licenses on the 2.5 GHz band — crucial for expanding 5G to Tribal lands. The groups urge the agency to extend the deadline to February 3, 2021 due to the significant impact the COVID-19 crisis has had on American Indian Tribes, Native Hawaiian communities, and Alaska Native villages across the nation.

Yesterday, Public Knowledge joined the National Congress of American Indians, AMERIND Risk, and the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association in filing an Emergency Motion for Stay of the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window with the Federal Communications Commission. The “Tribal Priority Window” allows tribes to apply to receive free spectrum licenses on the 2.5 GHz band — crucial for expanding 5G to Tribal lands. The groups urge the agency to extend the deadline to February 3, 2021.

American Indian Tribes, Alaskan Native Villages, and the Hawaiian Homelands have some of the worst access to broadband in the United States. According to the Federal Communications Commission,  36% of housing units on Tribal lands do not have access to broadband; on non-Tribal lands, this number is only 8%. Tribes face hurdles to accessing the […]