With support from the national telecommunications information administration (ntia) tribal broadband connectivity program (tbcp), the colorado river indian tribes (crit) will deploy a comprehensive…

With support from the national telecommunications information administration (ntia) tribal broadband connectivity program (tbcp), the colorado river indian tribes (crit) will deploy a comprehensive fiber optic broadband network to provide qualifying broadband services up to 1000/1000 mbps for 1,796 tribal households, and five tribal community anchor institutions within the california side of the colorado river indian tribes. The tribes, facing some of the nation's lowest per capita income, lowest education levels, and highest median age, has 4496 enrolled members, with 2832 residing on the colorado river indian reservation and an additional 1901 non-tribal native americans within its boundaries. The region is predominantly rural and has over 80,000 acres of irrigated farmland. Because of its rural nature and lack of internet service providers (ISP), crit estimates that 99% of the proposed service area currently lacks sufficient broadband access. In FY2022, crit received a $150,000 grant from the california public utility commission (cpuc) to evaluate the potential challenges in developing and maintaining the new broadband infrastructure. The feasibility study found that the proposed project is technically and operationally feasible and was segmented into the following routes detailed in eligible use: 1) lost lake, 2) big river, 3) riverland, and 4) crossings.