Navajos Could Lose Net Access

[flashl]

FCC Grant Dispute Threatens Public Safety Communications

By Holly Watt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 1, 2008; A08

A large swath of the sprawling Navajo Nation could lose access to the Internet today, in a dispute that threatens services from personal e-mail to police radio communications on the 27,000-square-mile reservation.

The Navajos' problem stems from a funding battle over whether an arm of the Federal Communications Commission will continue to pay grant money to the tribe's Internet provider.

"The situation has become critical and threatens the safety and security of the Nation and its residents," New Mexico Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D) and Pete V. Domenici (R) wrote to the FCC two weeks ago. "We are deeply disturbed by this imminent loss of communications service to vital public safety agencies."

In a letter to the nonprofit agency that administers the grant, Joe Shirley Jr., president of the Navajo Nation, wrote that "in just a few days, the Navajo Nation will lose its entire communications network, including its public safety network, as a byproduct of USAC's mishandling of this matter," referring to the agency, Universal Service Administrative Co.

Hundreds of Navajo students will be unable to finish online courses, he said, and "sadly, mothers are also no longer able to reach out and communicate with their children at war in Iraq."