[1st-mile-nm] FCC Grants Navajo Nation added wireless spectrum

[Richard Lowenberg]

U.S. grants Navajo Nation authority to use unassigned airwaves

Associated Press
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/ap/u-s-grants-navajo-nation-authority-to-use-unassigned-airwaves/article_55e26b01-749b-5fa3-b3ef-f673a142ed8b.html

PHOENIX — The federal government is giving the Navajo Nation temporary 
authority to use unassigned airwaves to provide wireless broadband 
service over the tribe's sprawling reservation that includes parts of 
Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The Federal Communications Commission said its wireless 
telecommunications bureau on Friday granted the requested authority for 
60 days to help the tribe's emergency response to the coronavirus 
outbreak.

According to the commission, the authority should help the tribe “during 
this challenging time" as reservation residents work from home and 
increasingly rely on telemedicine and remote learning.

Many residents in remote areas without broadband service sit in vehicles 
parked near local government centers, fast-food restaurants and grocery 
stores to connect to Wi-Fi.




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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
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