Earlier this year, the Office of Broadband Development released data and maps on broadband coverage of tribal areas. The numbers are high level or maybe more reflective than exact but it’s a great start on getting a handle on what’s happening in tribal areas. I thought I’d do a profile of each area, much like I have done for Minnesota Counties. Here is Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community

Info on Access/Households:

• Number of households (2010 estimate): 116
• Percent Wireline Broadband 2022 speed goal (25/3): 44.36
• Percent Wireline Broadband 2026 speed goal (100/20): 31.98

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux reservation is located in Scott County – in noncontiguous sections. Looking at the map, the area near the Little Six Casino is served, areas in the southern part of the county have mixed service and the northmost section, which appears to be the largest section, is unserved.

There are quite a few providers (CenturyLink, Comcast, BEVComm, Jaguar, Lonsdale, Mediacom, Nuvera and Integra) that offer broadband access in Scott County. Usually where there’s competition, there’s greater chance of getting improvement.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux have demonstrated an appreciation for broadband. The tribe has donated to broadband projects in other areas (Browning, MT, Blackfeet Nation, MT and Northern Arapaho Tribe, NY). They supported a program where Native youth learned to use broadband and technology tools to share their stories and the stories of their culture. (The event was part of the 2015 Blandin Broadband conference.) The tribal newsroom highlighted the 2018 Farm Bill, mentioning specifically broadband opportunities.