Nearly $3 million invested to expand broadband service to 600 homes in and around the Tribe’s community campus.
AUBURN, WASHINGTON – On March 29, 2021, Comcast and Muckleshoot Indian Tribe announced expanded broadband service to 600 homes and businesses located on tribal and non-tribal lands in and around the Tribe’s community campus. Over the past two years, Comcast and the Tribe have invested nearly $3 million to bring the entire suite of Xfinity and Comcast Business services to these previously underserved homes and businesses. The vast majority of homes and business now have service and full deployment is expected in the next few months.
“Bringing expanded and reliable high-speed internet service to the Muckleshoot Community has long been a priority for the Tribal Council and we are pleased that, working with Comcast, we were able to bring this project to a successful conclusion,” said Muckleshoot Tribal Council Chair Jaison Elkins.
“Connectivity matters right now more than ever for students and families, and I welcome the investment from Comcast and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe to expand broadband service in King County,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “I applaud partnerships that help close the digital divide in our underserved communities, so students can do their schoolwork, and everyone has access to healthcare and other online services.”
“Native communities have made do with inadequate internet access for decades, and this issue has only worsened in the current pandemic. In the digital world we now live in, families everywhere are reliant on a steady internet connection to work from home, attend online classes, or even meet with their doctor. I applaud the investment by the Muckleshoot Tribe and Comcast to serve residents living in and around the Tribe’s Community Campus in King County. We have a lot of work ahead of us to close the digital divide on all fronts. This is a great first step,” said Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08).
Comcast has invested approximately $2 billion in its network technology and infrastructure statewide in the past six years, and in 2020 the company invested more than $988.8 million in Washington including capital expenditures, taxes and fees, charitable giving, and employee wages and benefits.
“This network expansion with the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe is the latest example of the investment we’re making to broaden the reach of our broadband service in Washington state,” said Rodrigo Lopez, Region Senior Vice President, Comcast Washington. “Last month we announced plans to invest $9.4 million to expand service to more than 2,100 homes in rural areas of Snohomish and Spokane Counties over the next two years.”
Residents in this new Comcast service footprint now have access to the entire Xfinity product suite, including Internet Essentials, the largest and most comprehensive low-cost Internet adoption program for low-income Americans. Since 2011, it has connected 85,000 low-income households statewide, many for the first time. Businesses will have access to the full suite of Comcast Business Internet, voice, and video services, including WiFi, Voice, TV and managed enterprise solutions for businesses of all sizes.
Comcast is deeply committed to Washington, where our more than 4,200 employees serve more than 1.6 million residential and business customers throughout our state footprint. Comcast is Washington’s leading provider of XFINITY video, high-speed Internet, “smart home” and phone services. Comcast operates Xfinity retail stores throughout Washington, which feature a welcoming and modern retail environment that highlights the complete line of Xfinity Home and Comcast Business technology offerings, including Xfinity Mobile, Xfinity X1, Xfinity Home and Xfinity Internet. To learn more about Comcast in Washington, visit: https://washington.comcast.com/
About Muckleshoot Tribe
The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe is a federally recognized Indian tribe whose membership is composed of descendants of the Duwamish and Upper Puyallup people who inhabited Central Puget Sound for thousands of years before non-Indian settlement. The Tribe’s name is derived from the native name for the prairie on which the Muckleshoot Reservation was established. Following the Reservation’s establishment in 1857, the Tribe and its members came to be known as Muckleshoot, rather than by the historic tribal names of their Duwamish and Upper Puyallup ancestors. Today, the United States recognizes the Muckleshoot Tribe as a sovereign government and tribal successor to the Duwamish and Upper Puyallup bands from which the Tribe’s membership descends.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company with three primary businesses: Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, and Sky. Comcast Cable is one of the United States’ largest video, high-speed Internet, and phone providers to residential customers under the Xfinity brand, and also provides these services to businesses. It also provides wireless and security and automation services to residential customers under the Xfinity brand. NBCUniversal is global and operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks and Resorts. Sky is one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies, connecting customers to a broad range of video content through its pay television services. It also provides communications services, including residential high-speed Internet, phone, and wireless services. Sky operates the Sky News broadcast network and sports and entertainment networks, produces original content, and has exclusive content rights. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
Native Business Magazine
Carmen Davis - Founder, Publisher and Executive Editor
Mrs. Davis is the founder, publisher and executive editor of the only Native American wholly owned and operated national tribal business publication, Native Business Magazine, and the producer of the annual and nationally attended Native Business Summit.
Mrs. Davis is also president of Davis Strategy Group has over 23 years of service to Indian Country and as an entrepreneur she has successfully established, operated, managed and grown several businesses in multiple sectors. She is equal parts a strategic visionary and behind-the-scenes implementor, essential in guiding and overseeing every process of brand development, business expansion, nation-to-nation relationship building and more.
She was named in 2009 as one of the first recipients of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s, “40 Under 40” award which recognizes up and coming community and business leaders from across Indian Country.
