Arizona Getting Nearly $1 Billion for High-Speed Internet

Article originally posted on KTAR News on June 27, 2023

PHOENIX — Nearly $1 billion in federal funding is heading to Arizona to expand high-speed internet to rural and underserved communities across the state, officials announced Monday.

The Biden administration announced that more than $40 billion would be distributed across the country to deliver high-speed internet in places where there’s either no service, or service is too slow. Arizona’s portion is more than $993 million.

The funding comes from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021.

The internet access funding amounts depended primarily on the number of unserved locations in each jurisdiction or those locations that lack access to internet download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second download and upload speeds of 3 Mbps.

“With this funding, my administration will work with local, Tribal and industry partners to connect every Arizonan, in every community, across the state and build an Arizona that works for everyone,” Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a press release.

Arizona Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly were involved in the crafting of the infrastructure law.

In a press release Monday, Sinema called the internet funding “the strongest broadband investment in Arizona’s history” and Kelly labeled it a “once-in-a-generation investment.”

Biden on Monday said that high-speed internet is no longer a luxury but an “absolute necessity,” as he pledged that every household in the nation would have access by 2030 using cables made in the U.S.

“These investments will help all Americans,” he said. “We’re not going to leave anyone behind.”