Red-Spectrum Communications is a tribally owned internet service provider operating in North Idaho. Born out of a community need for reliable connectivity, Red-Spectrum has been bridging the digital divide on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation since the early 2000s, back when dial-up was the main option and speeds were almost 56 Kbps. Almost.
What started as a small wireless network funded by a USDA Community Connect Grant has grown into a modern fiber-to-the-home network, offering gigabit speeds, telephone services, and free public internet access to the community. Today, Red-Spectrum serves the majority of households on the reservation, providing fast, reliable connectivity that families and businesses depend on every day.
The network started out of an unfulfilled need in the community. In the early 2000s, the Coeur d’Alene reservation still relied on dial-up.
In 2004, the maximum speed available via dial-up on the reservation still fell short of 56 Kbps. The dial-up depended on old copper lines that had been put into the ground almost one hundred years ago, and the signal degraded quickly on that infrastructure. The Coeur d’Alene Tribe applied for a Community Connect Grant through USDA Rural Development. They received funds to build a small wireless network providing up to 1.5 Megabits per second.
By 2010, it became evident that the demand for connectivity was more than the wireless network alone could handle. There was not enough unlicensed spectrum to meet our needs, and the challenge of signal interference was increasing. At the time, the federal government enacted the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA), with billions of dollars in broadband subsidies available.
The Coeur d’Alene received ARRA funding to build a fiber network to support the wireless network. They received about $12.2 million, half loan and half grant, through the USDA Rural Utilities Service to build both middle-mile and Fiber-to-the-Home. The middle mile was necessary to move the local Internet traffic off of the reservation and to the wider web.