While most people understand and agree that broadband infrastructure is crucial for economic development, education, business and medical progress, WeSERV has watched as individuals initiate internet access ideas. But what happens when individuals across those sectors join together to discuss their wants, needs and already designed solutions?
WeSERV Government Affairs decided to find out. So, we hosted a small meeting at our office in Sierra Vista on Wednesday, Sept. 22nd in hopes of starting the cross over discussions that could lead to community infrastructure, education, business and medical infrastructure discussion of already planned or hoped for projects being coordinated to optimize the current flood of federal and state rural broadband funding.
The window to access those funds is very short – before the end of the year for some grants, and mid to late 2022 for other grants.
Our hope was to help small, medium and large projects come together to layer infrastructure, private money and government grant funding – all with the goal of optimizing current and already planned projects to further impact the surrounding community and meet the internet access needs of the area.
We had representatives from the SEAGO (Southeastern Arizona Governments Organization), Southwest Engineering, Cochise County, the City of Douglas, the City of Sierra Vista, and commercial real estate. Jeff Sobotka from ACA (Arizona Commerce Authority) described state available resources and guided the conversation.
You can watch Jeff’s slide show of Arizona Broadband to survey ACA and its broadband mission.
Jeff announced that ACA will have grant funds for internet infrastructure projects of all kinds: fiber, microwave, wireless, etc. later this Fall. He also commented that ACA is surveying internet connectivity state wide to identify well served and underserved areas of the state.
The conversation involved meeting attendees identifying their currently planned projects, their already identified funding, and then discussing how some projects can be expanded to interact and layer with other projects.
While these types of projects require the cooperation and vision of many people, it is doable and the Cochise meeting attendees had many ideas of how to layer already planned projects to bring reliable internet to every residential, commercial and government location.
One of the new laws passed in the last Arizona legislative session (HB 2596) allows ADOT to drop conduit along freeways and roadways and provides the ability of private providers to contract for access to that conduit. State buildings across the state will also be able to allow antennas for wireless connectivity.
What emerged was a picture of many people working to increase internet connectivity, but also the need to coordinate so that expanded connections could happen rapidly and as part of an organized plan.
The biggest need: finding local carriers for medium and last mile service and infrastructure. Fortunately, Cochise County is already meeting with carriers to identify capacity and expertise.
The next meeting will be in about a month preparatory to state and federal grant opportunities opening up.
So where does WeSERV fit in? For now, we are hosting these meetings and acting as a conduit for information sharing. Additionally, our commercial real estate member participating in these meetings was very helpful in providing “boots on the ground” information to the group. Information active real estate investors and agents are aware of because they are actively doing things to build, site and improve business in the area.
In the future we will be asking more of our members to engage by providing information and suggestions for connectivity. We have already had member suggestions regarding Huachuca City, Moson Rd., and Hereford.
Watch this website (www.weservgad.org), listen to GAD podcasts (Government Policy, Real Estate and YOU!) and read the WeSERV member newsletters to find the most up to date information and opportunities to engage.
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