The telcos' excuse is that the cost of providing service to these areas is not justifiable in relation to the profit from the customer base. Since telecommunications companies are fractured and zoned within the Reservations a local call to a town less than 20 miles away turns into a long distance call, while a call from an area 30 to 40 miles away is a local call. This is because of the territorial boundaries that different telecommunication companies operate on. If a person can only make long distance calls, the difference in the phone bill becomes more than a household with a less than average income can afford. Thus a discontinuance of the phone service is inevitable.
Health problems continue to plague the Indian population.
Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and liver disease seem to show no evidence of lowering. A system called linkup or lifeline enables people with health problems, elderly and low income to maintain basic telephone service, even if long distance service is discontinued. However, some telco companies do not always honor this system. Many disastrous results could have been avoided if basic telephone service were available. Another incident I recall, is the time the mother of a friend of mine went into a diabetic shock, and had to be driven 30 miles to the IHS because an ambulance could not be called due to lack of telephone service.