Notes and select videos from the 2026 Tribal Broadband Midwest Summit

The National Tribal Telecommunications Association hosted the 2026 Tribal Broadband Midwest Summit in Minnesota. It was fun to hear the stories from Minnesota and learn from what’s happening in other areas, such as Arizona. It’s clear to see that data center (emphasis on micro-data centers!) and AI are hot topics. Funding, and what’s happening with BEAD and other federal funding, is also a hot topic, although there are federal funds that are available exclusively to tribal areas. Shared barriers included questions about what may happen with federal funding, inflation and balancing POTS (landlines) with LEO (satellites).

Also very interesting to hear about the tribal perspective on sovereignty, which includes:

Local control
Ownership equals opportunity
Cost of dependency
Vision for the future

Welcome by Bill Rudnicki, Tribal Administrator, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
Welcome – Godfrey Enjady

$500M for tribal broadband – how do we do it?

Meet your tribal networks
575 recognized tribes in the US
Difficult become tribal lands are remote
“We used to follow the buffalo to stay alive; now we follow the Internet.”
Permitting on tribal lands can be a complex thing.
Working on AI for language preservation. Fewer than 200 on tribe can speak conversational Apache back home.
Built a new data center – micro to meet the needs of our tribe.
Looking at Spectrum. You can do 5G with 3 channels government just gave tribal communities some spectrum.
We need to understand more about the tools that are being created to work with them.

Panel – Connecting Minnesota: Partnerships, Policy, and the Path to Border-to-Border Broadband
MTA (Brent Christensen) and OBD (Bree Maki tell a Minnesota Broadband Story

2008 – MN Leg mapped broadband
2013 – Leg creates OBD – housed in Dep of Employment and Economic Development (NOT Commerce)
2013 – created rules for grants
OBD has had 3 Executive Directors
Work to get stakeholders together
OBD does mapping twice a year with Connected Nation. ISPs do provide information
Working through BEAD and local legislation
Part of MN grant process has included a challenge process that allows the challenging provider to be specific about target area and let grant applicant rework the proposal.
No waste, fraud or abuse in broadband funding in MN.

Q: Where’s the tribal engagement?
11 tribal national in MN. Some tribes serve themselves and some are served by MTA members. MTA is working on building better roads to work together.
OBD also reaches out to tribal areas and attend meetings. The MN Broadband Task Force includes a tribal member.
Tribal areas can maintain sovereignty and work with consultants

New Mexico is also doing a good job.
Want to know more about what Paul Bunyan Communications is doing.
State workforce development is important.

MTA has been able to work with almost everyone in the last 16 years. Except RS Fiber.

Q: Has MN provided communities with AI policies that can work? Such as Open AI or ChatGTP.
Last Leg Sessions, we realized we could not have onerous AI laws and get BEAD funding. But still waiting for definition of “onerous.”
We had 9 AI bills introduced last session and they were ready-aim-fire bills. We need meaningful policy but we need to be mindful and purposeful. We need a Task Force with stakeholders.
There are lots of experts in the room.

Last words:

Keep tribal communities engaged.
Advocacy is important

Just Released: NTIA Funding Opportunities/Regulatory Update with Chris

Q: It can be difficult, especially going straight through FCC instead of a State Office buffer.

Q: What about reporting?
Main thing is reporting to FCC broadband data collection, which involves a lot of things.
ETC designation for tribes is important – making small steps
Sustainability funding

Broadband: A Look at the Minnesota Model

Q: How is EHP (Environmental and Historic Preservation) complex in tribal areas?
The challenge comes where you wait and aren’t sure what you might be disturbing with environmental concerns – for example prehistoric grounds that have not been previously disturbed.

Q: Is there a state support for a middle mile to step in and help with rights-of-way?
OBD can help convene potential partners.

Q: Are you looking to change the state speed goals?
It was aggressive when it was set. The goal is 100/20 by 2026 and we won’t make it. There is an appetite to raise the speed goals and it’s up to associations to encourage the legislature.

Nuts and Bolts of Environmental and Historic Preservation (EHP)