Telecom Act Ensures Tribes Get Funds Story-Date: 10:28 a.m. PST Sunday , December 14, 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------ Telecom Act Ensures Tribes Get Funds By K. Marie Porterfield, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News WASHINGTON, D.C.--Dec. 15--A last-minute technical correction to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allows tribal telephone cooperatives to qualify for universal service funds used to supplement the high costs of delivering rural telecommunications services. "On Cheyenne River about five percent of our revenues come from these funds," J. D. Williams, general manager of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority said. "The universal service funds help tribal telecommunications corporations provide affordable phone service." The amount of assistance that tribal telephone companies receive varies. The Gila River telecommunications company receives an average of $32 per access line. The correction, passed by Congress last month and signed into law Dec. 1 by President Clinton, remedies a wording glitch in the bill that allowed only phone cooperatives subject to state jurisdiction to qualify as eligible carriers. Because of sovereignty issues, state commissions do not have jurisdiction over tribally owned and operated telecommunications companies. Without the last-minute approval, 14 of NTCA's member phone companies would have had no way of becoming eligible for the funds before the Jan. 1, 1998, deadline to qualify for the funds. "We are pleased that Congress and President Clinton recognize the fundamental role these telephone companies play on Native American reservations and in other rural communities across the nation in providing vital telecommunications services ranging from basic telephone service to internet access," said Michael E. Brunner, executive vice president of the National Telephone Cooperative Association. NTCA, a non-profit association representing nearly 500 locally owned rural phone companies and co-ops, lobbied for the correction. The National Tribal Telecommunications Alliance, which was organized in April and will soon go before the Gila River Tribal Council for a charter, also lobbied for the change. "We are able to identify the special needs in Indian country," Mr. Williams, who is vice chairman for NTTA said. He said that another purpose of the organization is to educate the tribes about technology issues. Mr. Williams can be reached at jdwilliamssioux.sodak.net. ----- Visit Indian Country Today on the World Wide Web at http://www.indiancountry.com/ ----- (c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------