Native Nations and Federal Telecom Policy Failures: Lessons from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund
Report examines some Tribal Nations’ critiques about the Federal Communications Commission’s troubled Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For media inquiries, please contact: Reggie Rucker, ILSR Communications Director
MINNEAPOLIS (June 16, 2026) – The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) has released its updated census of Tribal Internet networks, providing a comprehensive look at the burgeoning state of Internet connectivity across Indian Country. The census covers Tribal broadband activity across 202 federally recognized Tribal Nations, spanning nearly every region of the country.
What ILSR’s 2026 Census Found:
The first-of-its-kind network-by-network census is accompanied by a searchable map, a compendium of entries on each active network, and a detailed historical timeline tracing the arc of Tribal broadband policy and advocacy from the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to the present day.
“When we first performed this census, in 2020, we counted around 40 active Tribal networks of some kind. Now, that figure has doubled. In short, we are in the midst of unprecedented growth in Tribal broadband,” says ILSR senior researcher Jessica Auer, the creator of the census project.
“According to the Federal Communications Commission, nearly 24 percent of locations on Tribal lands still lacked access to fixed broadband at speeds of 100/20 Mbps in 2022 — more than three times the national rate of 7 percent,” Sean Gonsalves, an associate director for communications at ILSR, noted in an article for Broadband Breakfast. “Federal policy failures and decades of neglect by large monopoly providers, which consistently prioritized high-density and wealthier areas, are responsible for the lion’s share of these inequities.”
Among the many case studies highlighted in the census, Gonsalves points to the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which waited eight years for a major telecom carrier to bring service to its reservation after the company received federal funding to do so — and only after the Tribe paid for installation itself and guaranteed a minimum number of subscribers.
Beyond the practical benefits of expanded connectivity, the census project connects the Tribal broadband surge to an underlying mission to establish “network sovereignty.” Auer describes this in the census report as Tribal Nations having the agency to “self-determine the course of the communications development on their lands, the terms of that development, and the way the benefits of connectivity play out in their communities.”
Included in the census report is a detailed historical timeline documenting the policy victories and setbacks that have shaped the Tribal broadband movement, dating back to 1996. Among the key dates discussed are:
For more on the push for network sovereignty and the challenges that lie ahead, contact ILSR’s Sean Gonsalves at [email protected].
ILSR’s 2026 Tribal Broadband Networks census with accompanying searchable map, network case studies, and historical timeline is available here.
Report examines some Tribal Nations’ critiques about the Federal Communications Commission’s troubled Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF).
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About the Institute for Local Self-Reliance
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, founded in 1974, is a national research, advocacy, and technical assistance organization that empowers communities to take charge of their local resources, economies, and environmental future. The Community Broadband Networks Initiative is a program of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance that works with a diverse group of allies, partners, and local communities on policies to improve local Internet access. Through the initiative, we also research and document what communities around the country are doing to improve access to high-quality broadband at communitynetworks.org.
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