Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez told members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee July 8 that most of the nation’s residents lacked fixed access broadband service, and proposed the construction of a Navajo Nation-owned broadband network to provide fiber infrastructure as the middle-mile backbone to increase service availability.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted temporary access to spectrum to the Navajo Nation in order to help the nation’s broadband internet use during the pandemic.