MAINE, USA — Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King announced Tuesday that $500,000 in federal funds will go toward improving high-speed internet access for members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point.
The funding is part of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP), according to a news release from Collins' and King's office. The TBCP was created through the bipartisan infrastructure law, which both King and Collins co-sponsored.
"This project will support affordable broadband access for 243 Passamaquoddy Tribal households and community anchor institutions," the release said.
“In the 21st-century economy, access to high-speed Internet is absolutely essential to business development and job growth in rural areas, and it opens doors to new opportunities in telemedicine and education,” Sens. Collins and King said in a joint statement in the release. “This investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help more members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe to reap the benefits of broadband. We are pleased to see the continued impact of this bipartisan legislation to help close the digital divide and support Maine’s Tribal communities.”
According to the release, the TBCP provides grants to eligible Alaska Native, Native American, and Native Hawaiian entities for "high-speed internet deployment, digital inclusion, workforce development, telehealth, and distance learning."
Through the Passamaquoddy Tribe's Broadband Use and Adoption project, tribal members can benefit through the creation of digital inclusion, distance learning, telehealth, and telework programs, the release said.
For more information about the National Telecommunications & Information Administration’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, click here.
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