The FCC made good on a commitment to launch an Office of...
The FCC made good on a commitment to launch an Office of Native Affairs and Policy to promote communications services in tribal lands, the agency said Thursday. Those areas “suffer unacceptably low levels of communications services, especially broadband,” said Chairman…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Julius Genachowski. Increasing connectivity in those areas is one of the FCC’s top priorities, he said. The office, to be headed by Geoffrey Blackwell, will be part of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. The opening of the office is one of the central objectives in the National Broadband Plan, said Commissioner Michael Copps. “In so many places where Native Americans live, poverty endures, unemployment is at levels no society should tolerate, education languishes, and basic public safety falls far short of what people have a right to expect,” he said. The office will work to increase federal-tribal dialogue and consultations on regulations and policies, Blackwell said in an interview. It’s a challenge to overcome economic, geographic and demographic obstacles, and come up with sustainable business models, he said. The office will work directly with tribal and native communities and fill the need for an educational role for state regulators and industry providers seeking to serve tribal communities more effectively, he said. It will also work on increasing inter-agency coordination on broadband for native Americans, he said.