	Selected Tribes and Providers Identified Opportunities and Barriers Related to Increasing High- Speed Internet Access

Tribal officials we interviewed for our January 2016 report said they place  a high priority on institutional and personal Internet access because of the  numerous benefits, including the following:
Economic Development: Officials from most tribes said high-speed  Internet is essential for economic development such as finding  employment or establishing online businesses. Tribal officials and providers we interviewed also cited limited financial  resources as a barrier to high-speed Internet access. About half of the tribes we interviewed told us that a lack of tribal  members with sufficient bureaucratic and technical expertise was a  common barrier to increasing high-speed Internet access on tribal lands. Interrelated Federal Programs Promoting High-Speed Internet Access on Tribal Lands Are Not Always Well Coordinated

		FCC and USDA High- Speed Internet Programs are Interrelated

In January 2016, we found that FCC and USDA implement mutually  supportive, interrelated high-speed Internet access programs that offer  funding to either tribal entities or service providers to achieve the goal of  increased access. Tribal officials we interviewed said that both FCC’s and  USDA’s programs were important for the expansion of high-speed  Internet service on their lands. Our body of work has shown that interagency coordination  can help agencies with interrelated programs ensure efficient use of  resources and effective programs. FCC and USDA independently conduct  outreach and training efforts for related programs promoting Internet  access. The two  agencies could have planned a joint training event in the Pacific  Northwest Region—each contributing to the cost of the event—that would  have reduced the cost burdens for tribes. To this end, we recommended in January 2016 that FCC develop joint  outreach and training efforts with USDA whenever feasible to help  improve Internet availability and adoption on tribal lands. Federal Government is Gathering Data, but FCC Lacks Performance Goals and Measures for the Internet on Tribal Lands

		The Federal Government is Gathering Data on Internet Availability and Adoption in Households on Tribal Lands

FCC defines Internet availability as the presence of Internet service in an  area, and Internet adoption as the number of people in the area  subscribing to Internet service. The National Broadband Map is currently the best  tool for setting goals and measuring progress toward increasing the  availability of high-speed Internet on tribal lands. To improve performance management, we recommended in our January  2016 report that FCC develop performance goals and measures using,  for example, data from the National Broadband Map, to track progress on  achieving its strategic goal of making broadband internet available to  households on tribal lands, and FCC agreed with our recommendation. Data Collected Does Not Allow FCC to Measure Outcomes of its E-rate Program for Tribal Institutions

Although Census is gathering baseline information on household Internet  adoption, and the National Broadband Map provides data on high-speed  Internet availability across the country, we found that FCC lacks the  specific information it needs to measure the outcomes of its E-rate  program at tribal schools and libraries. However, FCC has not set any quantifiable goals and  performance measures for its E-rate efforts to extend high-speed Internet  in schools and libraries nationwide or on tribal lands. To address these concerns, in January 2016, we recommended that  FCC:  improve the reliability of data related to institutions receiving E-rate  funding by defining “tribal” on the program application. FCC agreed  with our recommendation and intends to provide guidance to  applicants in fiscal year 2017. develop performance goals and measures to track progress on  achieving its strategic objective of ensuring that all tribal schools and  libraries have affordable access to modern broadband technologies.
Why GAO Did This Study

High-speed Internet service is viewed as a critical component of the nation's infrastructure and an economic driver, particularly to remote tribal communities. This testimony examines: (1) perspectives of tribes and providers on high-speed Internet access and barriers to increasing this access; (2) the level of interrelation and coordination between federal programs that promote high-speed Internet access on tribal lands; and (3) existing data and performance measures related to high-speed Internet on tribal lands. This statement is based on GAO's January 2016 report (GAO-16-222). For this report, GAO visited or interviewed officials from a non-generalizable sample of 21 tribal entities and 6 service providers. GAO also reviewed FCC and USDA fiscal year 2010 through 2014 program data, funding, and materials and interviewed federal officials.

What GAO Found

In January 2016, GAO found that, although all 21 tribes GAO interviewed have some access to high-speed Internet, barriers to increasing access remain. Tribal officials and Internet providers said that high poverty rates among tribes and the high costs of connecting remote tribal villages to core Internet networks limit high-speed Internet availability and access. About half of the tribes GAO interviewed also said that the lack of sufficient administrative and technical expertise among tribal members limits their efforts to increase high-speed Internet access.
The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Universal Service Fund subsidy programs and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service grant programs are interrelated. The programs seek to increase high-speed Internet access in underserved areas, including tribal lands. GAO's previous work on overlap, duplication, and fragmentation has shown that interagency coordination on interrelated programs can help ensure efficient use of resources and effective programs. However, FCC and USDA do not coordinate to develop joint outreach and training, which could result in inefficient use of federal resources and missed opportunities for resource leveraging. For example, USDA and FCC held separate training events in the Pacific Northwest Region in 2015 when a joint event could have saved limited training funds and reduced costs.
FCC has placed special emphasis on improving Internet access on tribal lands following the issuance of the National Broadband Plan in 2010, which called for greater efforts to make broadband available on tribal lands. However, FCC has not developed performance goals and measures for improving high-speed Internet availability to households on tribal lands. FCC could establish baseline measures to track its progress by using, for example, the National Broadband Map which includes data on Internet availability on tribal lands. FCC also lacks both reliable data on high-speed Internet access and performance goals and measures for high-speed Internet access by tribal institutions—such as schools and libraries. Specifically, FCC's E-rate program provides funds to ensure that schools and libraries have affordable access to modern broadband technologies, but FCC has neither defined “tribal” on its E-rate application nor set any performance goals for the program's impact on tribal institutions. Without these goals and measures FCC cannot assess the impact of its efforts.

What GAO Recommends

In January 2016, GAO recommended that FCC take the following actions in tribal areas: (1) develop joint training and outreach with USDA; (2) develop performance goals and measures for improving broadband availability to households; (3) develop performance goals and measures for improving broadband availability to schools and libraries; and (4) improve the reliability of FCC data related to institutions that receive E-rate funding by defining “tribal” on the program application. FCC agreed with the recommendations.