On a sunny afternoon in Southern California, a group gathered at Matthew Rantanen’s ranch in Aguanga. They were not there to relax but to tackle a pressing issue: the historic gap in internet access on US tribal lands. Rantanen and his business partner, Christopher Mitchell, founded the Tribal Broadband Bootcamp in 2021.
The boot camp aims to teach attendees how to build sustainable broadband networks in Indian countries. This region has long struggled with internet accessibility. Federal Communications Commission data shows that more than one in five homes on tribal lands lack adequate broadband access.
This is compared to fewer than one in ten on non-tribal lands. Experts believe the disparity may be even greater. The Biden administration is investing billions to bridge the digital divide.
Training tribal nations in broadband
$65 billion is allocated for developing internet infrastructure across underserved areas. The boot camp in Aguanga is a hands-on training program.
It demonstrates everything from splicing fiber optic cables to handling the intricate fiber made up of strands of glass as thin as human hair. Participants include representatives from 72 tribal nations from across the US. “Essentially, what it does is bring together like-minded individuals who are building broadband communications for their community,” said Rantanen, a descendant of the Cree Nation and a community member who has worked at the intersection of broadband and policy for two decades.
The training sessions are hosted in a variety of settings, including a large tent and even a home movie theater on Rantanen’s ranch, now repurposed for practical instruction. The practical sessions involve pulling damaged fiber optic cables and listening to lectures by experts like instructor Dustin LaPointe. The attendees learn various skills essential for establishing and maintaining broadband networks.
This will enable them to return to their communities with the knowledge required to set up these critical infrastructures themselves. Despite recent challenges, such as Congress’s expiration of an internet subsidy program, the efforts from these boot camps continue to be a beacon of hope for many tribal nations seeking to bridge the digital divide.
