We all know that access to telephones is a necessity in modern life. Without phone service, households are unable to contact police, fire departments, or medical service providers in an emergency - an inability that can have disastrous results, especially in geographically remote areas, such as those on many reservations. Individuals in households without phone service likewise cannot be contacted by employers or potential employers. And they cannot connect to the Internet - the modern telecommunications medium. The policies that we adopted last week, including expanded Lifeline and Link Up coverage for income-eligible individuals on tribal lands, should boost subscribership on tribal lands and create incentives for new infrastructure investment.
Wireless alternatives offer unique solutions for serving tribal lands, especially in remote areas.
In that regard, I strongly support our decision to award bidding credits in upcoming auctions to wireless carriers that pledge to deploy facilities and offer service to tribal areas that have penetration rates below 70 percent. I am also pleased that we established an expedited process for handling petitions by carriers seeking designations as Eligible Telecommunications Carriers to serve tribal lands. Excessive delay in the designation of competing providers may hinder the development of competition and the very availability of service. By committing to prompt resolution of pending petitions, we should help speed deployment of telecommunications infrastructure. I believe it was incumbent upon the FCC to take the actions we took last week, given our universal service obligations and the historic federal trust relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes.