PAWHUSKA, OK – Osage Nation’s Wahzhazhe Connect and Osage Innovative Solutions, LLC (OIS) are jointly bringing high-speed broadband internet to the Osage Nation service area. Wahzhazhe Connect continues to expand the broadband network infrastructure through numerous construction projects while OIS’s internet service, known as “Osage Broadband,” further expands service availability for customers in the Osage Nation. Osage Broadband will serve as the Osage Nation’s broadband internet service provider, powered by AtLink Services, LLC. On Wednesday, the Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting officially welcoming AtLink Services, LLC, to the Osage County business community.
“We are bringing high-speed internet to the Osage Nation reservation,” said Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear. “Through this partnership, the Osage Nation will be able to build and operate its network as a one-stop-shop for internet service. Working together, Wahzhazhe Connect and OIS will increase both accessibility to internet services and also increase speed of existing internet services throughout the Osage Nation.”
Osage Broadband manages and operates the Nation’s existing internet infrastructure in Fairfax, Grayhorse, and Bowring. Osage Broadband, powered by AtLink, provides marketing, accounting, billing, collection, customer service, and network troubleshooting within the service areas.
Construction of the network has been completed by Wahzhazhe Connect in Pawhuska and Fairfax Senior Housing. Grayhorse and Pawhuska Indian Villages are currently under construction. The first set of upcoming NTIA-funded construction projects includes the western boundary of the Osage Nation, which runs from the Arkansas River Bridge, located east of Ponca City, to the Highway 18 intersection with Highway 60, located just north of Fairfax. Pawhuska Indian Camp is the second project in this phase, which includes the construction of fiber-to-the-home for residents. The third project includes Osage Nation government facilities in Pawhuska, including the Osage Nation Fitness Center, the Domestic Violence Shelter, and the newly renovated Visitors Center.
The next set of broadband buildout projects includes extending the eastern boundary, running from Pawhuska to Bartlesville, the city of Fairfax, and the new Primary Residential Treatment Center administration building. Also included in this phase are routes from Pawhuska to Hominy, Skiatook to Tulsa, Barnsdall, Avant, and Sperry.
The Osage Nation’s broadband expansion is funded by competitive grants awarded to the Osage Nation that include a $40.6 million Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program Grant from the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA), which is part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Internet for All initiative. The competitive award was supplemented with a $13.9 million ReConnect3 Grant Program from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The construction project is laying approximately 200 miles of fiber optics and erecting 16 towers throughout the Osage Nation service area.