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September 2009 | Volume 12 / Number 9
Case Study

WiMAX, High-Speed Internet Debuts in Isolated Navajo Nation

By: Erin E. Harrison

Navajo Internet

In the 21st century, it’s easy to take for granted the conveniences of modern society – running water, electricity, phone lines, and perhaps even more pervasive, the Internet. Not only are these fixtures expected everywhere we go, but we want faster results, more bells and whistles and cheaper service.

For some communities in this country, the reality is that access to many of these amenities is almost two hours away and is simply not a part of everyday life.

Sorraine Hot, 36, is a single mother of four who lives on a Navajo reservation in Huersano, N.M. She travels roughly an hour-and-a-half to get to her job as a customer service representative at Sacred Wind Communications, a privately owned telecommunications company that was established to improve services to rural areas within the state.

In an interview with TMCnet, she tells a story of a Navajo woman who had a heart attack and urgently needed medical attention. Her son, who was in a wheelchair, had to wheel himself to the local trading post just to get to a phone.

With WiMax connection now available, Hot hopes that eventually those in her town of approximately 5,000 – and ultimately the entire Navajo Nation – will have affordable access to phone lines and Internet services, and stories of such disparity will no longer be told. There is a small propagation – currently about 2,700 customers – that have tapped into telecom service following a partnership between Sacred Wind and Fujitsu (News - Alert) Network Communications.




The Richardson, Texas-based optical and wireless networking provider and Sacred Wind Communications recently announced the rollout of rural wireless broadband to bring telephone and Internet access to thousands of families in New Mexico’s Navajo Nation.

The Navajo Nation, which encompasses 27,000 square miles of rural territory in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United States.

“Everything is so isolated, [students] have to travel an hour and a half just to get to the library to do their research,” she said. Often times, it isn’t convenient for parents to travel so far, and because the Navajo are “proud people”, Hot said, they would come to school and claim to have done work they were not able to do because of such restricted access to the appropriate resources.

Hot previously worked for a non-profit organization, the Huersano Computer Lab, and taught Navajo people – ranging in age from five to 70 years old – the fundamentals of the Internet, such as sending a rudimentary e-mail or more sophisticated features like a Web cam to communicate with family members who live off of the reservation.

Most of the Navajo who live there, Hot explained, are economically disadvantaged. Because of the remoteness and ruggedness of the land, the Navajo Nation lacks the basic infrastructure that most living in the U.S. take for granted.

Sacred Wind purchased from Qwest (News - Alert) Corporation its local telephone facilities serving portions of Navajo lands and nearby Navajo lands in the northwestern, Four Corners and Canoncito areas of the state. John Badal, Sacred Wind’s CEO, served as president of Qwest New Mexico in the early 2000s.

Focused mainly on introducing basic telephone services to the many thousands of unserved homes on Navajo lands, Sacred Wind also has the intent and mission of providing high speed Internet services, to Navajo, non-Navajo residents, governmental entities and businesses in their territory. Sacred Winds are a spiritual force in Navajo folklore and tradition that gave life to all beings and things in nature. They are also the communications between man and divinity.

Because many Navajo live in very remote areas with extremely rugged terrain, laying copper cable throughout that vast area in order to service a relatively small number of people who cannot afford to pay high telecommunications fees was economically out of the question. It could have cost $50,000 per customer, and taken 45 years to reach 70 percent of potential customers, according to Fujitsu Network Communications case study.

Sacred Wind actually evaluated 11 different fixed WiMAX (News - Alert) providers, and then chose Fujitsu Network Communications because they felt the technology and associated support would help drive their mission. After joining forces with Fujitsu, Sacred Wind quickly determined that fixed WiMAX would be the model solution to the problem, because of its simplicity of deployment, affordability and features such as nonline-of-sight technology.

According to Hot, Sacred Wind charges customers $34.95 up to $79.95 per month depending on speed for their phone and Internet services, costs she said are “pretty affordable” for residents there, many of whom work in construction and oil fields. Those on government “lifeline” assistance are entitled to a significant discount for phone service.

“Sacred Wind’s mission in making broadband services available to rural communities and our work and support in providing RF planning, installation and systems integration is a winning combination,” said Jim Orr, principal network architect at Fujitsu Network Communications (News - Alert).

Earlier this month, the Obama Administration revealed the availability of $4 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act loans and grants to help bring broadband service to so-called “unserved and underserved” communities across America. “Unserved” areas are defined as including at least one full census block, where at least 90 percent of households do not have access to terrestrial broadband.

“Underserved” areas are defined as including at least one full census block, where no more than 50 percent of the households have access to terrestrial broadband, or no provider advertises speeds of 3 Mbps or more or the rate of subscribership is 40 percent or less. Applicants can qualify on any single one of these criteria.

This is the first round of Recovery Act funding aimed at expanding broadband access to help bridge the technological divide and create jobs building out Internet infrastructure.

“Today, accessible rural broadband is increasingly important as a means of ensuring access to services and social inclusion for those living in remote areas,” Orr said. “Delivery of these services can transform jobs, communities and lives in rural areas. We don’t take that task lightly.” IT

Erin E. Harrison is senior editor of Technology Marketing Corporation.

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