Indian tribe creating own wireless network from ground up

I try to stay away from stories about the telecommunications industry--because I work in it.

But this story, from the Bismarck Tribune, needs a wider audience:

Past the long stretches of fields, beyond the bright lights of the casino and into Fort Yates, perched on the edge of a wide stretch of the Missouri, is wireless blackness, a virtual dead zone that’s crippling the community.

Geraldine Agard, who lives in the community, has heard stories about people dying from exposure because they couldn't make phone calls from the side of the road. And she has a son and two grandsons who can’t call their parents if they're in trouble, lost or simply need a ride. Emergency 911 calls get rerouted or don't work, and calls to nearby towns or other areas within the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe result in long distance charges on land lines.

So the tribe decided to do something about it:

They are among the first tribal entities to embark on the process of fully owning and building a wireless network from the ground up, to span over state lines and several communities, to serve at least 16,000 customers and offer consistent service. It's not an effort to simply improve service, but to create it.

"It's a very ambitious project,” said Schmitt. "I feel it was a logical step for the tribal council to take."

Here's the best part--the project is being privately funded.

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