Project Title:
Kenaitze's Broadband Infrastructure Deployment Project
Funding Program:
Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program - Round 1
Project Purpose/Type:
The Broadband Infrastructure Deployment project proposes to install fiber directly connecting 1,055 unserved Native American households of which 45% are below the 150% poverty line with qualifying broadband service at speeds up to 336/36 Mbps.
State(s):
-
$7,000,000.00Funding Amount
The project proposes the following activities designed to improve access to, and use of, broadband services among Tribal members:
- Construct and license through the FCC 3 new broadband wireless towers while simultaneously upgrading 20 existing towers.
- Construct a microwave network to provide backhaul for fixed wireless sites.
- Offer no cost broadband service to Kenaitze and Ninilchik Tribal members, offset by commercial sales of bandwidth to populations in non-Tribal areas.
- Develop a business partnership with Ninilchik Village, a collaborator on this project, for the purposes of workforce development and economic opportunities.
This project will enable the applicant and neighboring villages to access telehealth and telework services, provide remote learning opportunities, further economic development, and address broadband use issues that exist within the Kenaitze and Ninilchik Tribes.
The project intends to benefit 1,055 unserved Tribal households within the Kenaitze and Ninilchik Tribal areas on the Kenai Peninsula with broadband speeds up to 336/36 Mbps. The applicant also intends to create 13 IT jobs for Tribal members that will comply with the Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance.