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Native-Owned Phone Company Doing Fine

How can a phone company offer services such as Internet access to people while still teaching them how to use a telephone? Gila River Telecommunications, Inc. does - and does it quite well, apparently. The phone company, based out of Chandler, Arizona is an 11-year old company which services the Gila River Reservation, a daunting job at best.

The Gila River people were one of the first tribes in the United States to approach US West Telecommunications about buying out its system, part of which included a 1950s-vintage switching system. The newly-formed Gila River Telecommunications, Inc. then turned to the task of bringing telephones to an isolated public. Before the arrival of the new company, some tribal members had a long trip to make if they had to make a phone call, and occasionally couldn’t get there - the Gila River floods during the winter, and separates some of the more distant residents from the areas which had access to phones. For some, this distance was an inconvenience, but was better than the alternative of paying US West $30,000 to install phone lines to each home. An estimated 54% of reservation dwellers do not have phones.

However, GRTI changed all of that by offering service over the entire 620-mile reservation, and now has state-of-the-art equipment such as digital switches and mile after mile of fiber-optic cables - 117 miles, to be specific. They are currently seeking a $12 million loan to install an additional 100 miles of fiber-optic lines and do upgrades and improvements to their system. They currently serve about 1400 Gila River families with services such as $12-a-month phone service, cellular and business phones, pay phones (25 cents, anywhere on the reservation, per call), satellite television, pagers, and Internet access. They also recently gave the rez community its first phone book with reservation maps and phone listings. Before this point, maps of the reservation were not common, if available at all.

“That’s a big jump, considering most people didn’t have phones 10 years ago. We’re bringing the 21st century into people’s homes,” said Belinda Nelson, who is the director of human resources for GRTI.

The planned changes would enhance GRTI’s system and coverage that much more. An extra 100 miles of fiber-optics would reach areas of the reservation which are hard to reach. The company also plans to offer interactive television and expand the phone system at the Lone Butte industrial park near south Chandler, which is nearing capacity. The Gila River community also is planning a resort hotel and other developments, which the phone company is preparing to service.

These changes, however, are not without some difficulties. One of the changes the company would like to make is an enhanced 911-type service. However, it’s hard to send tribal police to an address which doesn’t have an address. Many homes may be on a specific street, but do not have a number; other homes are listed in different cities, such as Florence or Coolidge, while the phone company’s listed as being in Chandler. Brooks Roseman, the general manager of GRTI, stated that the company will probably have to get really state-of-the-art and use satellite-based global positioning systems instead of addresses to identify 911 callers.

The company is fully Native-American owned and operated now, as it bought out its other owner, National Telecommunications Cos. Inc., in 1997. And, even after its shaky start in the business 11 years ago, it’s coming out on top. Some off-reservation people have begun to inquire into getting phone service through GRTI. However, the people of the Gila River community come first. As Roseman said, “We are profitable, but because we’re owned by the community, profits are not as important as serving the community well.”

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