PAWHUSKA, Okla. — Local, tribal, and national leaders gathered in Pawhuska on March 4 to break ground on a project that will bring high-speed internet to communities in Osage Nation.
The project is $40.6 million and it's funded through the National Telecommunication Information Administration (NTIA) Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program.
“This will change our community for the better at many different levels, including education, social connection, health services, and cooperation with our community and communities throughout the world,” said Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear.
It's all part of the Biden-Harris Administration's Internet for All initiative, which aims to ensure everyone in America has access to reliable high-speed internet.
“We broke ground on a project that will install fiber optic cable and build wireless towers to directly connect more than 3,000 unserved Osage Nation households,” said Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. “This $40 million project will expand access to education and health care, support smart technologies for farming, and create construction and broadband jobs.”
Crews will install more than 200 miles of high-speed fiber optic cabling and 16 towers for fixed Wi-Fi throughout Osage County.
Providing internet to all Oklahomans is not unique to the Osage Nation. Tribes like the Cherokee Nation are also assisting in similar projects with their reservation.
“High-speed Internet is like water,” said Senior Advisor to President Biden Tom Perez. “It’s a critical public necessity that needs to be affordable and accessible to everyone. That’s why the Biden-Harris Administration has invested $90 billion to ensure communities across the country, especially rural areas and Tribal nations like Osage Nation that have frequently been left behind, are connected to the pipeline to opportunity that reliable internet provides.”
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