With the completion of $3.6 million in broadband projects to bring Internet fiber connectivity to Santa Cruz County, the Arizona Department of Education has brought a total of approximately $160M in fiber construction projects to schools and libraries in rural areas through the federal E-Rate Program in the past six years.
The latest project in Santa Cruz County will benefit all 1,000 students of the Santa Cruz Valley Unified Schools District. The local Rio Rico Community will also benefit from the new fiber infrastructure brought into the area by Valley Telcom.
State schools chief Tom Horne said, “With access to high-speed broadband, students can take remote classes and take advantage of digital learning opportunities. Educators will be able to dramatically enhance their professional development capabilities and communities will be transformed by the cultural and economic benefits of having a strong connection to the Internet.”
E-rate brings high-speed Internet broadband to areas of the country underserved by existing utilities. It is funded through an assessment on telecommunications providers as required by federal law with the goal of ensuring that communications services such as broadband are accessible for eligible schools and libraries in rural areas.
In Arizona, many non-metro regions have limited Internet connectivity, and on tribal lands an estimated 95 percent of household have no connectivity.
In cooperation with other state agencies, ADE’s E-Rate Director, Milan Eaton, capitalized on the FCC Second order in 2017 allowing states to contribute to construction projects and increasing the eligible amount to the participating school district. To date, there are more than 80 projects either complete or in process across the state. Some other largest projects completed to date include:
· County wide fiber build in Pinal County – $33.9M
· Fiber to the Grand Canyon School District – $5.6M
· County wide fiber build in Gila County – $19.4M
· County wide fiber build in LaPaz County – $3.9M