Call to Action #75

The status is Active. The clearest responsive evidence is National Indigenous Connectivity Inc. (NICI), which describes itself as a 100 percent Indigenous-owned communications technology company and an advocacy organization promoting high-speed internet and spectrum access for remote and rural First Nations communities in Canada. NICI’s mandate is directly focused on equitable broadband and spectrum access, digital equity, community control over telecommunications infrastructure, and Indigenous-led connectivity solutions. Its June 2025 Reconciliation Agreement with Bell Canada provides further evidence of active partnership work to advance broadband and wireless access for rural and remote First Nations communities. Supporting evidence also exists through the Assembly of First Nations’ digital connectivity gap work, which documents the scale of First Nations broadband, cellular, fibre, and spectrum needs, and through the First Mile Connectivity Consortium, a longstanding First Nations connectivity organization and policy network. Federal activity through the CRTC Broadband Fund Indigenous stream and ISC connectivity investments confirms that Indigenous technological infrastructure is an active policy and funding field, though these are supporting rather than Indigenous-led organizational evidence. The status is Active because a national Indigenous-led organization focused on technological infrastructure exists and is operating, but limitations remain around pan-Indigenous scope, long-term institutionalization, funding, and measured connectivity outcomes.