Executive summary the tulalip tribes is requesting $10,491,390 to build 43.58 miles of fiber to the premise for 669 homes on the tulalip reservation that are currently unserved according to the FCC…

The Tulalip Tribes of Washington received a $31.47 million project grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (CFDA 11.029) awarded on March 1, 2025. The primary deliverable is the construction and deployment of fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband infrastructure consisting of 43.58 miles of fiber optic cable to serve 669 currently unserved households on the Tulalip Reservation in Washington. The project will be executed by Salish Networks, the tribally owned competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) that will both construct the infrastructure and serve as the internet service provider for the connected households. The award has a completion deadline of February 28, 2029.

This infrastructure deployment addresses critical broadband access gaps that were particularly acute during the COVID-19 pandemic, when 669 reservation households lacked reliable high-speed internet connectivity, impacting remote education and telehealth services. The project aligns with the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program's objectives to expand broadband access on tribal lands and enable access to remote learning, telework, and telehealth resources for Native American communities.

Executive summary the tulalip tribes is requesting $10,491,390 to build 43.58 miles of fiber to the premise for 669 homes on the tulalip reservation that are currently unserved according to the FCC national broadband map. During the pandemic, 669 homes on the reservation were not able to access reliable high-speed internet, which created challenges for families with children home from school and elders in need of telemedicine. If awarded, the tribally owned phone and broadband provider salish networks will execute the last mile fiber to the home project and be the internet provider for the 669 households. The tulalip (pronounced TUH-lay-LUP) tribes are located on the tulalip reservation in the midpuget sound area bordered on the east by interstate 5 and the city of marysville, washington; on the south by the snohomish river; on the north by the fire trail road (140TH); and on the west by the waters of puget sound. The tulalip reservation exterior boundaries enclose a land-base of 22,000 acres, more than 50 percent of which is in federal trust status. The reservation is rich with natural resources: marine waters, tidelands, freshwater creeks and lakes, wetlands, forests and developable land. The tulalip reservation was reserved for the use and benefit of indian tribes and bands signatory to the treaty of point elliott of january 22, 1855. Its boundaries were established by the 1855 treaty and by executive order of president U.S. Grant dated december 23, 1873. IT was created to provide a permanent home for the snohomish, snoqualmie, skagit, suiattle, samish and stillaguamish tribes and allied bands living in the region. The tribes population is over 5,000 and growing, with 2,700 members residing on the 22,000- acre tulalip indian reservation located north of everett and the snohomish river and west of marysville, washington. Ten years ago, tulalip tribes created salish networks, one of a handful of tribal competitive local exchange carriers (clecs) out of necessity, responding to the lack of affordable, reliable high-speed internet on the reservation. Today salish networks provides internet, voice service and communications infrastructure on the tulalip reservation and in the puget sound area. Salish networks currently serves 2548 customers, a 78% take rate. In 2004, tulalip tribes deployed a large-capacity fiber-optic ring around most of the tulalip reservation. This fiber backbone ring was crucial for bringing modern highspeed internet and broadband communications services to the tulalip reservation and follows the model set by major telecommunication companies. Currently most salish networks customers have internet through coaxial cable. The tulalip tribes plan is for all new broadband projects to bring fiber to the premise as well as to replace coaxial cable as IT ages out. The tulalip tribes board of directors has directed salish networks to provide broadband to all citizens on the tulalip reservation who are currently unserved, which is approximately 669 households. In 2022 salish networks hired global netwave engineering, an industry leader in gpon broadband engineering and design, to do a high-level engineering document of the underserved and unserved homes on the tulalip reservation. IT is with this engineering document and 3 conversations with industry experts that the current plan to build fiber to the premise (fttp) to 669 households was developed. IT is currently estimated that 30.59 miles of aerial fiber will be constructed in addition to 12.99 miles of buried fiber. Additional engineering, design, and environmental assessments will need to be completed before construction can begin on this project. Salish networks will procure outside contractors to run aerial cable backbone and to perform underground boring. For this work, an RFP (request for proposals) following tulalip tribes procurement policy, will be published. Salish networks in-house infrastructure team, as well as TH