CRS Reports Address Media Ownership, Tribal Broadband Access, Funding

changes in news consumption patterns,” the report said, citing data from the Pew Research Center. An 18-page report, dated Tuesday, gave an update on tribal broadband deployment. “The most recent data show that, as of December 31, 2014, approximately 41% of Americans living on tribal lands lacked access to broadband at speeds of 25 Mbps download/3 Mbps upload,” CRS said. “This compares unfavorably to 10% of all Americans lacking access to broadband at those speeds.” The report cited funding questions it said could come up in 2017: “Debate has centered on whether federal funding for tribal broadband is sufficient, and the extent to which portions of federal funds available for broadband should be specifically targeted for tribal broadband. In the 114th Congress, while there was no legislation that exclusively directed federal funding for tribal broadband, there were a number of bills that addressed federal funding for broadband generally. In the 115th Congress, notwithstanding whether federal broadband funding programs target tribal lands, whether or not tribal lands will receive additional funding for broadband will likely be determined by the ongoing trajectory of overall federal funding for broadband.”