Much has been said and written about the glaring (and tragic) lack of broadband service to Native American tribes, their members, homes, schools and community centers.

It’s no secret that we at BearCom believe everyone should have access to reliable high-speed broadband. In fact, we’ve made it our mission to deliver on that mission, and have done so for schools, communities, enterprises and more.

When it comes to the unique nature of serving America’s Native American Tribes, we are equally committed to doing what we do best: offering expertise, insight and experience to tribal leaders as they leverage the funding (finally) to connect their homes, community centers, schools, health centers and more.

One part of our commitment is our support of the NTTA Tribal Broadband Summit, taking place March 20-22 in Chandler, Arizona. BearCom has committed to be a Platinum Sponsor and will be in attendance with its Private LTE team to meet, learn, listen and engage with tribal leaders who are focused solely on building, maintaining, and monetizing a network and plan for future broadband.

BearCom CTO Mike Owen will contribute his expertise and insight on one of the featured panel sessions of the Tribal Broadband Summit.  According to Mike, CBRS-enabled private LTE networks is an option tribal leaders should consider in place of FWA (fixed wireless access) and optical fiber deployments. Mike’s panel is on Tuesday, March 21 with moderator Kevin Hamer, General Manager, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Tribal Broadband Consortium, and speakers from Tarana Wireless and Pierson Wireless.

BearCom’s position with the tribal community is this: closing the digital divide in tribal nations is an ongoing effort, not a one-time mission. Our job is not to sell the Tribal Leader or Telecom manager on a standard broadband pipe. With us, tribal nations are buying expertise and experience and the team that knows what equipment works best for what the tribe wants to accomplish.

“We are your trusted partner in leveraging broadband technology to improve the lives of your community,” says Mike. “We are on the journey with you, and we’ll be there year over year to support you as this technology evolves.” We want to help you understand how to leverage your network and maximize it to the next level.”

That means looking at the benefits of a Private LTE network over fixed access networks like optical fiber or fixed wireless access (FWA).

“For tribal leadership looking to deploy a broadband network, Private LTE is like offering a bubble of connectivity around the community or the school or the service area. By blanketing the area with a wireless network that enables mobility, tribes gain so much more in terms of service, functionality and innovation than fixed wireless access to individual buildings or homes,” said Owen.

Any organization – reservation, community or municipality – has several options to bring true broadband internet speeds to all areas that they want covered. Fixed Wireless Access networks (FWA) is a term used to describe a network that is essentially a wireless version of fiber optics. Fixed Wireless is not a mobile technology; the signal does not follow you as you drive. But FWA can deliver a ‘point-to-point’ connection that offers internet speeds that are sometimes equal to optical fiber.

Tribal leaders have to think about how their network plans today are going to sustain their communities needs in the long-term, through funding sources or through the business case. Today, there are funding sources from Federal and State programs, and other sources including private. There are alternatives to the business case as well, and that includes a private mobile network that the tribal community can grow and evolve as their needs evolve.

As a true systems integrator BearCom can help you develop your Private LTE network needs. Hopefully, we’ll see you at the Tribal Broadband Summit this March in Chandler, Arizona.