Many of the community anchor institutions on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, home to the Ute Indian Tribe, lack sufficient broadband infrastructure to interconnect the tribal government, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and other federal agencies. Many residents in the area, such as the Fort Duchesne Tribal Community, are also severely underserved by current broadband providers.
The Ute Indian Tribe is proposing to install new fiber optic cable to enhance distance learning, telehealth, and public safety applications in the region. The project would also help spur economic opportunities and social services in an area that, according to BIA, has an unemployment rate of up to 77 percent. The network would bring speeds of up to 10 Mbps to police, courts, emergency and social services facilities, and enable rapid information sharing between local, inter-tribal, state, and federal agencies.