MCLEAN, Va.--GTT Communications, Inc., a provider of managed network and security services to multinational organizations, and Caliber Financial Services, a tribally-chartered corporation wholly-owned by the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, have partnered to bring high-speed internet to the Otoe-Missouria Reservation. This high-speed connectivity solution will improve the quality of internet services to the families and businesses located in and around the Otoe-Missouria Reservation in rural north central Oklahoma.
“The pandemic has reinforced the urgent need to close the digital divide that many Native American tribes face.” said John Shotton, Otoe-Missouria tribal chairman. “We are grateful for the partnership between Caliber and GTT to help elevate the quality of life enjoyed by the Otoe-Missouria people and drive further economic development for years to come. Broadband services are a vitally important lifeline for our schools, businesses, healthcare services and all other aspects of community life that rely on a modern telecommunications infrastructure.”
“We are very pleased that our partnership with GTT allows us to bring improved connectivity to Caliber Financial Services while also serving the Otoe-Missouria community as a whole,” stated Doug Oliveira, chief technology officer at Caliber Financial Services. “We selected GTT not only for their expansive internet backbone and stellar track record as a provider of high-speed connectivity solutions, but the team at GTT demonstrated an exceptional passion and dedication to support this type of broadband development project. We are proud that Caliber, as a tribally-chartered corporation and wholly-owned by the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, has self-funded an infrastructure project with such far-reaching benefits to the Otoe-Missouria community.”
“GTT is honored to be partnering with Caliber to bring faster and more reliable internet services to the Otoe-Missouria community while also providing more resilient connectivity to vital data center and cloud resources,” said Jim Delis, GTT division president, Americas. “We understand the importance of a modern broadband infrastructure to participate in the digital economy and keep our communities connected and thriving. We look forward to building on our partnership with Caliber, and we are passionately committed to pursuing other opportunities to contribute towards broadband improvements in Indian Country.”
A study published by the American Indian Policy Institute in 2019 estimated that 18% of tribal reservation residents have no internet access, while 33% rely on smartphones for internet service. This is largely the result of most reservations having been established in remote locations with very limited infrastructure.
GTT’s connectivity solution includes a 10G Ethernet point-to-point circuit, connecting Caliber’s data center facility located in Red Rock, Oklahoma with its Kansas City, Missouri data center. The solution also includes a 10G Dedicated Internet circuit connecting the Red Rock data center to GTT’s industry-leading global Tier 1 IP network, which also provides direct connections to the major cloud service providers.
In addition, GTT deployed a 10G dedicated internet circuit at the Red Rock data center facility to connect a newly installed tower providing Wi-Fi access to users on the Otoe-Missouria reservation. The new Wi-Fi tower footprint upgrades the broadband infrastructure serving the Otoe-Missouria community, enabling businesses to connect to their customers and suppliers faster and allowing students to connect to the internet and the cloud more reliably and securely.
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