USDA Awards $17 Million for Warm Springs Broadband

A ReConnect Program grant will extend high-speed internet to more than 150 households on the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon.

Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Telecommunications

Photo-style view of a single aerial fiber cable sagging between two wooden utility poles across a dry sagebrush plateau with basalt outcrops and distant ridges. — Warm Springs Telecommunications Company received a $17 million USDA ReConnect grant to bring high-speed internet to more than 150 households on the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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The USDA Rural Development agency awarded a $17 million ReConnect Program grant to Warm Springs Telecom, a company owned by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. The project will extend high-speed internet to more than 150 households on the Warm Springs Reservation, mostly through aerial fiber.

Why it matters

The grant addresses connectivity gaps on the reservation, where households have lacked reliable high-speed service. The project is also expected to support economic opportunity, public safety response, and access to education and telemedicine services in Oregon's Jefferson and Wasco Counties.

The $17 million ReConnect grant funds mostly aerial fiber deployment to more than 150 households and a new Warm Springs Telecom operations facility. The source does not specify fiber route lengths, speeds delivered, or the project's completion timeline.

The players

USDA Rural Development

The U.S. Department of Agriculture agency that administers the ReConnect Program to expand broadband in rural America.

Warm Springs Telecom

The telecommunications company owned by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs that will build the new network.

Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs

The federally recognized tribal government whose reservation in central Oregon is the project's service area.

Rural Prosperity Partners

The organization that provided technical assistance to Warm Springs Telecom during its ReConnect application.

The details

Warm Springs Telecommunications Company applied for ReConnect funding with technical assistance from Rural Prosperity Partners. The project serves locations in Jefferson and Wasco Counties and includes construction of a new operations facility.

November 9, 2026: USDA announced the $17 million ReConnect grant to Warm Springs Telecom.

Roadmap

The award is one of the grants made under the USDA ReConnect Program, which funds broadband buildout in rural and tribal areas that commercial providers have not served. It extends that federal effort to a reservation where household connectivity has lagged.

Households on the Warm Springs Reservation stand to gain access to high-speed internet once the network is built. The project is expected to improve access to education and telemedicine services for residents.

The takeaway

Federal ReConnect funding is now reaching tribal lands in Oregon, where broadband access has been limited. Watch for construction updates as the aerial fiber network moves toward connecting the Reservation's households.