Network provider GTT is working with the Otoe-Missouria Tribe to bring high-speed internet to the reservation located in north-central Oklahoma. The partnership exemplifies a reverberating push to bring connection to reservations where infrastructure is highly limited.

Caliber Financial Services is the tribally-chartered corporation owned entirely by the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians that is handling the agreement. Caliber CTO Doug Oliveira explained that the company selected GTT to aid in the self-funded infrastructure project for its “expansive internet backbone” and track record as a provider. 

Todd Kiehn, SVP of product management at GTT, added in an email to SDxCentral that Caliber will pay GTT for the ISP connection and its wireless provider for the infrastructure.

“They were putting up a wireless tower in the middle of the neighborhood on the reservation" Kiehn wrote. "The tower connects to small wireless devices on the outside of each home, and they are using a microwave transport to provide internet access from their data center in Red Rock for a 10-gigabit connection to the wireless tower, which feeds all of the properties in this neighborhood – none of which had that kind of internet access before.”  

An American Indian Policy Institute study revealing that 18% of tribal reservation residents have no internet connection with an additional 33% relying on smartphones for internet service. 

“So basically, we are acting as the ISP for the homes on the reservation near the data center,” Kiehn continued.

The two have worked together since October 2021 when GTT installed a 10G Ethernet point-to-point fiber connection between Caliber’s Red Rock, Oklahoma, data center on the reservation and its data center in Kansas City, Missouri. 

“GTT installed this new connection about four months ago,” Keihn added. “In the past 60 days, the wireless service was constructed in the first neighborhood, and end users have begun using the service.” The solution also includes a 10G dedicated internet circuit connecting the Red Rock data center to GTT’s tier-one IP network, providing connection to major cloud service providers. 

GTT has also partnered with Dobson Fiber to bring its services to the Red Rock data center to help the reservation meet the “diversity required for Caliber from their existing fiber providers,” Keihn noted.