HARTFORD – U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representative Joe Courtney (D-Conn.-02) announced on Wednesday that the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded a $493,000 Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grant to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

"It's just a reality that access to high-speed internet is as much of a necessity to modern life as electricity. It is unacceptable that tribal communities are often hurt the most by the digital divide, and this federal funding will help provide affordable international service to households in the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. Internet is infrastructure, and this investment will fuel economic development in our state,” said Murphy.

“This funding will ensure that Mashantucket Pequot households are connected to affordable, high-speed internet — an important and indispensable necessity in this day and age.  The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated very starkly the importance to families of a strong internet connection to work,  run their businesses, complete schoolwork, and connect with loved ones.  The Mashantucket Pequot community will benefit greatly from these funds and I will keep working with my colleagues to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable and reliable broadband,” said Blumenthal. 

“Any small business will tell you that high-speed internet is absolutely essential to being successful in the 2022 marketplace, and so will every school, hospital, police station and firehouse. High-speed internet is an essential part of modern infrastructure, and we’ve got several tribal and rural communities here in eastern Connecticut that have been waiting for years to see serious investment put towards making their internet speeds and bandwidth competitive with others,” said Courtney. “Now, as we keep working back to full speed following the pandemic, hundreds of households, workforce skills training staff, small businesses, and others in the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation are going to see increased internet access and speeds. This new federal funding means lowering the digital divide for tribal communities, and a more competitive eastern Connecticut.” 

This project will assist 163 Tribal households, workforce development staff, and Tribal institutions in New London County, Connecticut, in developing programs and resources to address COVID-19 challenges that have impacted Tribal members. The project intends to provide affordable internet service and equipment for Tribal members in addition to creating a workforce development center that will assist the Tribe’s workforce development program in training, readiness, and job placement.

The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program is a $980 million program directed to tribal governments to be used for broadband deployment on tribal lands, as well as for telehealth, distance learning, broadband affordability, and digital inclusion.

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