OST Broadband Coverage Continues to Expand
PINE RIDGE — In an era when reliable internet is essential to economic survival and educational success, vast stretches of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have remained digitally dark. That’s changing—fast.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) has launched a multi-pronged broadband initiative that may be one of the most ambitious tribal connectivity campaigns in the country. Armed with more than $60 million in federal grants and a unified vision of digital sovereignty, OST is forging a new era of infrastructure self-reliance—one tower, one fiber line, one household at a time.
“The competitors had their chance to serve us,” Hughes said in an interview. “They didn’t. Now we are stepping up and doing it ourselves.”
The first tangible step in this transformation is the Internet Access Project, a pilot effort distributing 800 Starlink satellite kits to Oglala Sioux tribal households currently without internet access. The kits—offered free of charge— allow rural households to leapfrog traditional infrastructure and gain high-speed service via low-orbit satellite.
To qualify, the head of household must be an enrolled OST member and must complete a verification process through OLT. Recipients are responsible for the $90 monthly service fee, but for many, this offers the first realistic chance at reliable internet.
Customer Service Representatives will also guide applicants toward more affordable options under the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).
This is triage—getting families online while long-term infrastructure comes online.
While the Starlink rollout offers immediate relief, it is only a stopgap. The real muscle behind OST’s broadband revolution lies in the pair of major federal grants the Tribe has secured over the past year:
- $19.6 million from the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP)
- $35 million from the ReConnect Program under the U.S. Department of Agriculture
The TBCP funds are being deployed to construct a wireless broadband backbone across the reservation. The technical scope is formidable:
- 15 RAN sites (radio access network stations)
- 10 microwave links for signal backhaul
- 93 miles of fiber optic lines between key communities
- New towers capable of withstanding the punishing winds of the High Plains
Meanwhile, the ReConnect funds will lay direct fiber to 3,300 residents, 47 businesses, 55 farms, and seven educational institutions in communities like Wounded Knee, Batesland, Porcupine, and Manderson. When completed, many homes will have internet as fast and reliable as any major U.S. city.
Behind the fiber cables and satellite dishes is a deeper mission: sovereignty.
“In the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, the U.S. promised us ‘works of utility,’” Hughes said. “In today’s world, that includes broadband.”
Tribal attorney Mario Gonzalez agrees, citing case law that instructs treaties must be interpreted in the context of modern life.
“This isn’t just about speed,” Hughes adds. “It’s about self-determination. It’s about making sure every child can learn online, every elder can access telehealth, and every entrepreneur can build a future right here at home.”
Hughes and OLT are partnering with the Cheyenne River Telephone Authority (CRTA)—the country’s oldest tribal telco—to guide their development. The CRTA has served the Cheyenne River Reservation for over 65 years, offering a proven template for tribal-run telecom success.
The collaboration, formalized through a Memorandum of Agreement, brings technical support and institutional knowledge to the OST effort, ensuring the infrastructure is not only built—but maintained and grown with tribal oversight.
OLT currently employs 13 staff members, all enrolled members of OST, with more hiring planned. Hughes says the goal is not just connectivity, but –“digital inclusion”— helping tribal citizens gain the skills, equipment, and support needed to thrive online.
That means everything from job training to device access to IT literacy workshops.
“We’re putting Oglala to work on our digital future,” Hughes said.
And that digital future won’t be subcontracted out to faceless providers. “We’re not just the customer anymore,” he said. “We’re the provider.”
Internet access on Pine Ridge has long been a patchwork of promises and neglect. Vast areas—especially on the western and southern stretches—have never had reliable service. For years, families cobbled together cell boosters, public Wi-Fi drives, and slow DSL lines that barely supported email, let alone Zoom classrooms or telemedicine.
Then came COVID. Suddenly, the broadband gap turned deadly— isolating elders, disconnecting students, and gutting access to basic services. It was a reckoning, and one OST has not forgotten.
Thanks to ARPA funds, NTIA grants, and the determination of OST leadership, the reckoning is now turning into restoration.
The initial fixed wireless site at Wakpamni Lake/Batesland, is already under construction and expected to deliver high-speed service to 168 homes and businesses within weeks.
“We’ll have some homes connected this spring,” Hughes said. “It’s not five years away. It’s happening now.”
If Hughes and OLT have their way, in a few years every home on Pine Ridge will have highspeed internet, phone service, and television—on par with anything in Rapid City, Denver, or Minneapolis. And it will be provided by a tribally chartered company, accountable to the community it serves.
“This isn’t a federal project. This is an Oglala project,” Hughes said.
And it’s just getting started.
Originally published in Native Sun News
Written by: James Giago Davies