Tribe holds public meeting on broadband initiative

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe held the first of three public meetings to discuss the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) on Jan. 6 at the Community Building. Jamie Bay and Steve Cook are two members of the Project Support Team and were on hand to give the background on the project and explain what future steps will be happening. These meetings are intended as sessions to provide all of the general information about Broadband and the project itself before it moves onto the next phase in development.

History of the Project

In 2006 the region of Northern New York communities began to hold a series of discussions around broadband and how to bring the technology into the North Country. The Director of Economic Development at the time, Brian Cole, and former Tribal Chief James Ransom both attended these meetings to ensure that the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe would be included in the strategy being developed.

When the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Rural Development (RD) announced the availability of the broadband grant, a team was assembled to develop two proposals.

Overview of BIP

The BIP proposal is a 3-year project to implement, and it involves building over 68 miles of fiber optic lines into the southern portion of Akwesasne. The Fiber Optic line that will be built will contain 144 strings of fiber, and with the currently population of the community only a fraction of that is needed locally. The additional fiber can be used in different ways to generate revenue to maintain the network after the initial 3-year period.

During the building phase of this project 28 jobs will be created for the broadband construction. The First Americans IGA Building has been identified as being the likely site for the Network Operation Call Center because it currently has the 2,500 sq. ft. needed. Renovations would have to begin by March to meet the project timelines of this grant.

There are many benefits for the community once this project is complete. Retail businesses would have the chance at having a greater online presence with online ordering features. The area of telehealth can be explored which would reduce the need to travel long distances to meet with specialists. Instead, rooms can be setup for video conferencing, and patient charts could be securely sent to the specialist for review.

Each household located within the Southern portion of Akwesasne will have more options available for their cable, phone and internet service providers. This also gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to begin their own business to provide these services to the community. Having control over the broadband network will allow for service providers to have lower rates for their customers with faster internet speeds.

Overview of 5-Point Access Public Computer Centers Initiative

The second proposal that was developed is to upgrade public computer centers within Akwesasne over the next 5 years. The sites for the computer centers have already been identified as the Akwesasne Boys & Girls Club, Akwesasne Library, Seniors Center, Akwesasne Employment Resource Center, and Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Public Computer Lab and Training Center. Over 60 computers will be available once the project has been completed, with one smart board in each of the centers.

These new labs will allow for training to be offered to community members, and the Tribe plans on developing a partnership with the National Education Foundation. The public computer centers will train 2,700 residents with around 22,000 hours of teacher led training over 3 years.

Next Steps for the Project

The Project Support Team will update the plans that had been originally drafted in 2007 to account for the changes in technology. Once those plans have been upgraded the projects will begin construction in the spring. For more information the community is encouraged to attend one of the two remaining information sessions scheduled for Jan. 13 & 20 at 5:00pm in the Lobby of the Community Building.