Congress could spend big on broadband. Tribal nations say it can't come soon enough.
Biden on Friday said he would agree to the GOP's proposal of spending $65 billion to increase connectivity in the U.S., down from his original plan of $100 billion.
May 23, 2021, 3:30 AM CDT
By Adam Edelman
The internet connection was so poor where Tracey Yazzie’s children are enrolled in school on the Navajo Nation in Arizona last year that educators switched to a low-tech solution: paper, pencil and a yellow school bus.
Each week, a bus from the Round Rock school would drop off packets of schoolwork for Yazzie's two children, who had very little interaction with teachers and other students, because of spotty internet service when the pandemic closed schools, she said.
“It’s been very challenging,” said Yazzie, a 33-year-old nurse. “But we at least have dial-up at home. Many of the families at the school don’t have any connection at all.”
Affordable high-speed, broadband internet is rare across Navajo Nation, the reservation that stretches across three southwestern U.S. states and is larger than state of West Virginia. And its absence for many families, especially over the past 15 months, has further exposed how critical access to it is for residents to participate in basic elements of society.
More:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/congress-could-spend-big-broadband-tribal-nations-say-it-can-n1267923
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