WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is inviting and strongly encouraging American Indian leaders to participate in a seminar the agency is planning for this fall that should focus the leaders’ attention on wireless as an answer to the lack of telephone service in American Indian country.
In a letter to 500 tribal leaders sent on March 24, FCC Chairman William Kennard said ITTI 2000: The Indian Telecom Training Initiative “will serve as a toolkit for tribes by identifying existing telecommunications solutions and exploring innovative and emerging technologies. Speakers will come from the FCC, other federal government agencies, wireless telephone companies and wireless service providers.”
Additionally, towers and spectrum issues will be a part of the ITTI discussion, Kennard told the tribal leaders.
Last year, Kennard said he was appalled at the inadequate access “not only to advanced telecommunications services, like high-speed Internet access, but even to basic phone service.”
At a time when 96 percent of Americans have telephone service, only 45 to 55 percent of American Indian families have phones. This number drops to one in four on the Navajo reservation. “In many Indian nations it sometimes takes over 10 years to get a telephone installed. Or sometimes the phone company is willing to install a phone for as much as $80,000 or even $150,000,” he said last year.
Since Kennard’s Jan. 29, 1999, speech, the FCC has proposed two separate sets of rules and launched an American Indian initiative Web site. It has also held public hearings on the issue.
The exact date and location of the seminar have not been determined but it is expected to take place sometime this fall, the FCC said.
