The Nez Perce Tribe Department of Technology Services recently received a $17,000 grant from the First Nations Development Institute of Longmont, Colorado. This grant is awarded to enhance the efforts of the Tribe’s 2.5GHz spectrum expansion project.
This licensed spectrum will allow the Tribe to develop higher speed coverage over the Nez Perce Reservation. The Tribe has started with a pilot project that will be expanded to help areas where they see barriers to good service, such as trees and hills.
Department of Technology Services built the broadband network from the ground up, with a donated tower from homeland security funds. The Tribe has brought broadband into homes now, for over ten years. It has since deployed 22 towers making a fixed wireless ring around the reservation.