Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 04, 1 April 2020 — Tribal Priority Broadband! [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Tribal Priority Broadband!

By Robin Puanani Danner SOVrRHCN eOUNeiL OF

HAWAIIAN IIOMESTEAD ASSOCIATIONS The FCC has opened a Tribal Priority Broadband window for new spectrum licenses over raral tribal lands. Our rural homestead lands are considered tribal lands for the purposes of this amazing opportunity! There are 54 homestead eligible areas, among the hundreds of tribal areas on the continent and Alaska that are eligible for these new 2.5 GHz spectram licenses. These licenses ean play an important role in the deployment of broadband and other advanced eommunieahon services over our lands and for our people. Although this window ean result in the acquisition of licenses at no cost, there are requirements that will necessitate resources and expertise, for example, a two-year and five-year buildout timeline to deploy the spectrum in service to trast land residents. SCHHA has been tracking this opportunity since last year, along with several of our tribal colleagues, especially since the FCC approved the Tribal Priority Broadband window in July 2019. The FCC officially opened the window in Febraary 2020 and will close it in August 2020. This is an incredible opportunity for HHCA beneficiaries, for SCHHA, and for any homestead association in an eligible area, to contemplate controlling a slice of spectram to serve our own

people, on our own lands. This month, the SCHHA Governing Council voted to identify areas, from among the eligible homestead areas identified by the FCC, to apply for spectrum licenses. Under the federal rales for this program, only federally recognized tribes are automatically eligible to apply. An application for our trust lands will require a spectram application plus a waiver to be deemed eligible as an applicant. As SCHHA works through the application requirements in the months ahead and identifies the buildout resources necessary to meet the terms of the FCC Tribal Priority Broadbatul window, we invite any homestead association that would like to be informed about our potential application to contact us at info@hawaiianhomesteads.org. It's clear from the rales in plaee for the program that muhiple spectram applications for the same land area are discouraged, since if that happens, the two or more eligible applicants will be required to bid against one another for the license. This is another great opportunity to exercise our collective self-deter-mination on the homesteads. As a 33-year-old statewide beneficiary organization registered with the Department of Interior, we weleome the mana'o of other homestead associations interested in this telecommunication space! Let's explore our possibilities. ■ A national po!icy advocate for Native self-governance, Danner is tlie elected Chair of the Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, the oldest and largest coalition of native Hawaiians on or waiting for Hawaiian Home Lands. Born on Kaua 'i, Danner grew up in Niumalu, and the homelands of the Navajo, Hopi and Inuit peop!es. She and lier husband raised 4 children in homesteads in Anahola, Kaua 'i where they eonhnue to reside today.