{"id":370276,"date":"2025-12-26T00:54:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T00:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/370276\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T00:54:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T00:54:14","slug":"idahos-fort-hall-is-one-example-of-how-broadband-gaps-create-health-gaps-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/370276\/","title":{"rendered":"Idaho\u2019s Fort Hall is one example of how broadband gaps create health gaps, too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FORT HALL (KFF Health News<\/a>) \u2014 Standing atop Ferry Butte, Frances Goli scanned the more than half a million acres of Shoshone-Bannock tribal land below as she dug her hands into the pockets of a pink pullover.<\/p>\n

The April wind was chilly at one of the tribes\u2019 highest vistas in remote southeastern Idaho.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to bring fiber out here,\u201d Goli said, sweeping one hand across the horizon. The landscape below is scattered with homes, bordered in the east by snowcapped mountain peaks and to the west by \u201cThe Bottoms,\u201d where tribal bison graze along the Snake River.<\/p>\n

\"Frances<\/a>Frances Goli, broadband project manager for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, stands in a former radio station near Blackfoot, Idaho. The building is being converted into a data hub and offices for the tribes\u2019 high-speed internet operations. | Sarah Jane Tribble, KFF Health News <\/p>\n

In between, on any given day, a cancer patient drives to the reservation\u2019s casino to call doctors. A young mother asks one child not to play video games so another can do homework. Tribal field nurses update charts in paper notebooks at patients\u2019 homes, then drive back to the clinic to pull up records, send orders, or check prescriptions.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes were awarded more than $22 million during the first round of the federal Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. But tribes that were awarded millions in a second round of funding saw their payments held up under the Trump administration. Last month, federal leaders announced modifications<\/a> to tribal broadband programs as part of a larger effort to \u201creduce red tape.\u201d The National Telecommunications and Information Administration said it plans to \u201cpromote flexibility\u201d and launch a new grant in the spring.<\/p>\n

Federal regulators declined to provide details. The announcement comes after a year of upheaval for federal broadband programs, including the elimination of Digital Equity Act funding, which President Donald Trump has called \u201cracist,\u201d<\/a> and a restructured $42 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program, which U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said was influenced by \u201cwoke mandates<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across Indian Country and on the Fort Hall Reservation, high-speed internet service gaps persist<\/a> despite billions set aside for tribes. In early November, U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) asked federal agency leaders<\/a> why funds already awarded had not been released to tribes and whether federal regulators were providing adequate technical assistance.<\/p>\n

So far, the $3 billion tribal program has announced $2.24 billion in awards for 275 projects nationwide. But tribes that won awards have drawn down only about $500 million, according to a recent update<\/a> from the Commerce Department\u2019s Office of Inspector General.<\/p>\n

The agency has initiated tribal consultation<\/a> on the broadband programs, offering tribal leaders two dates in January for online meetings.<\/p>\n

The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have drawn down less than 2% of their awarded funding and the program has not yet connected a single household, Goli said. NTIA spokesperson Stephen Yusko said the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are still slated to get their full grant award and, he confirmed, future spending will not be subject to the administration\u2019s recalibrations.<\/p>\n

Gaps in high-speed internet can be profound and urgent on tribal lands. Tribal members are historically underserved and, on average, live with the highest rates of chronic illnesses and die 6.5 years earlier<\/a> than the average U.S. resident.<\/p>\n

Diabetes and high suicide rates are among the most pernicious tribal health challenges \u2014 and federal research confirms telehealth can improve health outcomes<\/a>. A KFF Health News analysis<\/a> showed that people tend to live sicker and die younger in America when they live in dead zones, or places where poor internet access intersects with shortages of health care providers, leaving patients who need it most unable to use telehealth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in survival mode,\u201d said Nancy Eschief Murillo, a longtime Shoshone-Bannock leader. The tribes, which have an on-site clinic, need more health care both in person and with telehealth, she said. \u201cRight now, our reservation? We don\u2019t have accessibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>A sign outside the Fort Hall Reservation\u2019s recreation center advertises a suicide crisis number. Diabetes and high suicide rates are among the most pernicious tribal health challenges. | Sarah Jane Tribble, KFF Health News Fort Hall has about 2,400 households. Nearly all of them live without high-speed internet. <\/p>\n

Inside a trailer that serves as the temporary headquarters for Fort Hall\u2019s tribal broadband office, Goli sat at a desk in June and scanned the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s most recent online map of the reservation.<\/p>\n

As the tribes\u2019 broadband project manager, Goli didn\u2019t like what she saw on the map. Blue hexagons highlighted varying rates of high-speed coverage and signified that high-speed internet is available on much of the reservation. Companies have told federal regulators they provide fast transmission speeds to homes there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are untrue,\u201d Goli said. Fort Hall has about 2,400 households, and nearly all of them live without high-speed internet, she said.<\/p>\n

When it comes to tracking who on a reservation has high-speed internet, \u201ceverybody acknowledges, including the FCC, that the map is not 100% accurate,\u201d said Robert Griffin, co-chair of the Fiber Broadband Association Tribal Committee, an industry trade group. He is also the broadband director for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

Attempting to correct the maps is one of the many tasks Goli has taken on since becoming the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes\u2019 broadband project manager in January 2023 \u2014 seven months after the tribes won the award.<\/p>\n

A series of hurdles, including flaws in the plan initially approved by the federal government and a cyberattack, have delayed the project, she said. The attack hit in August 2024 and for months shut down nearly all phones and computers on the reservation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have access to any of our information,\u201d Goli told KFF Health News this month, adding that the tribes are still \u201cin recovery mode\u201d from the attack.<\/p>\n

Goli, who grew up on the reservation and still plays basketball at the tribal gym, left her job as a data analyst in Seattle to return home to be with family and to work. For two years, and with no broadband industry experience, Goli has overseen the multimillion-dollar grant without a staff.<\/p>\n

Her first task, she said, was to collect data that could help create a realistic plan to deliver broadband to every home on the reservation. \u201cData tells a story,\u201d Goli said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Fort Hall and many other tribal lands are remote with rugged, expansive terrain. To build fiber-optic cables underground, the tribes must navigate lava rock and work with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to get permits. To build communications towers, the tribes must ensure they follow migratory bird rules for American bald eagles. To provide wireless connections, the tribes must buy or license spectrum from federal regulators, Goli said.<\/p>\n

When the federal tribal broadband program launched, more than 300 tribal applicants<\/a> \u2014 pitching projects totaling $5 billion\u00a0 \u2014 submitted requests to the NTIA. During a later round of funding, <\/a>more than 160 tribal applicants<\/a> asked for more than $2.6 billion, even though only $980 million was available. There are 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States.<\/a><\/p>\n

The tribal program funding was not enough to \u201cbuild out Indian Country,\u201d said Joe Valandra, chief executive and chairman of the broadband consulting firm Tribal Ready. Valandra is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.<\/p>\n

Congress created the tribal program to be used in combination with funds from the larger $42 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment, or BEAD, program, Valandra said.<\/p>\n

But now, it seems \u201cthe administration has no appetite for expensive broadband infrastructure builds in rural areas,\u201d said Jessica Auer, a senior researcher with the community broadband networks team at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a research and advocacy nonprofit.<\/p>\n

\"Goli<\/a>Goli stands atop Ferry Butte, one of the highest points on the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho, and scans the sparsely populated landscape. | Sarah Jane Tribble, KFF Health News <\/p>\n

Auer, who has followed the implementation<\/a> of tribal programs, said the administration may think the money already given to states for BEAD, as well as the use of satellite internet connections, will be enough for tribal lands.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey seem to have a strong interest in declaring this problem solved,\u201d she said. Low-earth-orbit satellites, though, are costly for the consumer and do not always offer the consistent high speeds they should, she said.<\/p>\n

Goli\u2019s plan does not include the use of satellites. On Fort Hall, the few households that have fast speeds now buy Starlink, but tribal leaders say the $80 to $120 monthly subscription costs are too expensive for most members.<\/p>\n

The newly revised plan will use a hybrid of fiber-optic cables and wireless internet to ensure that people can \u201clive their lives, whether it be health, education, telehealth,\u201d Goli said.<\/p>\n

First fiber-optic lines will cover two-mile segment on northern end of reservation <\/p>\n

Ladd Edmo, a councilman for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, thinks the tribal broadband project is taking too long.<\/p>\n

Goli \u201cis doing the best she can,\u201d Edmo said.<\/p>\n

\"Ladd<\/a>Ladd Edmo, a longtime member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes\u2019 business council, lives near the town center on the Fort Hall Reservation, but his internet is slow, he says. \u201cI get a lot of buffering.\u201d | Sarah Jane Tribble, KFF Health News <\/p>\n

But when he thinks about the millions waiting to be spent, Edmo said, he worries federal regulators \u201ccan just grab it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not afraid of the current administration,\u201d said Edmo, who is in his fifth term on the tribes\u2019 business council. \u201cI just think that they\u2019re looking for money everywhere they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edmo lives about half a mile from the Fort Hall townsite and said he can\u2019t really use his internet because he \u201cgets a tremendous amount of buffering.\u201d When he travels to doctors for his prostate cancer treatment, Edmo has them print paper schedules to keep track of his treatment.<\/p>\n

He said he is not a big fan of telehealth, \u201cprobably because I don\u2019t know how to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For 53-year-old Carol Cervantes Osborne, who also lives on the reservation, having internet is a necessity. Osborne is in constant pain from severe rheumatoid arthritis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just all broke down,\u201d Osborne said as she stared at the open pasture last June. She talked about how she misses riding cattle roundups. At times, Osborne has been bed-bound because of her arthritis and bad knees. She said she tapped her credit line, which uses land and cattle as collateral, and signed up for Starlink so that she can connect with doctors remotely through telehealth appointments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m poor because of it, but we\u2019ve got to have it,\u201d Osborne said.<\/p>\n

\"Carol<\/a>Carol Cervantes Osborne pays for Starlink to ensure she has consistent high-speed internet access at her home on the reservation. | Sarah Jane Tribble, KFF Health News <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, nearly 15 months after the cyberattack, Goli said the tribes are beginning to hire vendors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings happen very slow when it comes to processing things in the tribal government,\u201d Goli said, adding there are a lot of \u201cchecks and balances.\u201d<\/p>\n

This month \u2014 as the holidays approached \u2014 Goli said she was excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve actually started our first segment of fiber,\u201d Goli said. The engineering work is done, and they have begun issuing permits, she said. The fiber-optic lines, built by a private vendor, will cover a two-mile segment on the northern end of the reservation. The line will come from outside the reservation and connect to the tribes\u2019 data hub, which is an old radio station still being converted into broadband offices.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our first segment, and we\u2019re really using this as a test,\u201d Goli said.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the old radio station will be central to operations, with fiber-optic cable lines that web out over about 800 square miles to reach the reservation\u2019s five district lodges. Each lodge will establish a communications tower, which will use the fiber line to power wireless antennas that will then provide high-speed internet to the reservation\u2019s most remote homes.<\/p>\n

Goli said the tribes are applying for another extension \u2014 and, she said, they would not be the only award winners of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to ask for more time. Working with tribes, she said, takes time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really saddens me that we\u2019ve been left behind all these years,\u201d Goli said, but \u201cthis is our opportunity. We want to do it right, slow and steady.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Jane Tribble, KFF Health News\u2019 chief rural correspondent, spent more than a year interviewing Frances Goli through calls, texts, and emails. She traveled to Fort Hall Reservation twice, having received tribal approval to visit the land: in spring 2024 and again in summer 2025. Tribble also reviewed publicly requested copies of the tribal contract and interviewed dozens of industry and regulatory broadband experts.<\/p>\n

KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Subscribe<\/a> to KFF Health News\u2019 free Morning Briefing.<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> first appeared on KFF Health News<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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