ANCHORAGE, Alaska-The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) recently was awarded $35 million dollars to help alleviate broadband and communication challenges in the state's remote geography. The award was the largest to date given by through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program.

The connectivity program is sponsored by the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, with the agency announcing 19 new grants totaling $77 million in early May.

With the latest round, the federal government has pledged a total of $83 million across 34 projects. The recipients range from subsidizing tribal members' monthly broadband bills to deploying new infrastructure. 

Most award amounts hover between $100,000 and $4 million, but agency gave out its largest award so far-$35 million-to a consortium of 74 tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, and tribal organizations. 

Rather than using the monies for concrete infrastructure, AFN executive vice president and general counsel, Nicole Borromeo, said the emphasis would be on improving programs and build-outs, providing broadband-enabled devices to users, subsidizing broadband costs, and offering broadband costs, and offering training and technical support for communities coming online.

"Use and adoption is what can be done right now without hammer or nail, and that's what we're focused on," Borromeo told Tribal Business News. "This is a short-term resource stream to get internet and broadband out to people we can serve."

In their project proposal, the AFN tribes listed three primary goals for the award: improving telehealth, providing connectivity, and subsidizing costs.

Besides the organization's priorities of training people and getting equipment to their constituents, AFN is focusing on creating improvements in telehealth. They will partner with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium to offer online training and equipment to providers.

The AFN also plans to have a mobile IT team that can move throughout the state to offer training and technical support, helping communities have the hardware and software they need.