The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) component could be doing more to help Tribal authorities with technical assistance as they seek to create and improve broadband services using $3 billion in funding from the Federal government’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP), according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The program was created through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 to help Tribal organizations improve internet access and service speeds on Tribal lands.
“Tribal organizations and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) – which selects and oversees TBCP recipients – have told GAO that it will be difficult to financially sustain networks built under TBCP,” GAO said.
“These networks will serve areas that have not attracted private-sector investment due to their location, density, and income levels,” the Federal watchdog agency said.
“Providing technical assistance to recipients and reporting to Congress on the financial sustainability needs of the projects would help NTIA achieve its purpose of improving quality of life through expanding broadband service in historically underserved Native American communities,” GAO said.
Despite the difficulties seen by Tribal organizations in attracting private investment for broadband networks, the TBCP program has been able to reach 31 Tribal funding recipients who had not recently participated in other significant Federal agency programs aimed at improving broadband services.
To help fill in the gaps for Tribal organizations, GAO offered three recommendations, each of which drew NTIA’s support:
- Provide technical assistance to funding recipients that are unable to implement their financial sustainability plans;
- Report to Congress on the projects’ financial sustainability needs; and
- Consolidate technical assistance resources for the TBCP environmental review process in a single location.
