In February, the Navajo County Board of Supervisors approved a contract with Magellan Advisors in the amount of $73,350 to provide studies and plans to move the county forward in bringing broadband to the area. That study and strategic plan report has been completed and will be presented to the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 14.
In addition to the Magellan contract, the county has also been seeking grant funding for several broadband projects throughout the region.
Navajo County Manager Glenn Kephart explained, “Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) has offered a grant opportunity that we will be applying for. We are in the process of putting together a credible grant application so that we can start building broadband infrastructure in Navajo County. There is $100 million available statewide and about $75 million of that is dedicated to rural counties. This is a great opportunity to put some real money to actually building significant infrastructure.”
He continued, “The timing on this was fortuitous. We hired Magellan to do a needs assessment and figure out what the needs are of our stakeholders, and that strategic plan is being finalized. In that draft plan it provided a high level design for a middle mile open access, meaning broadband network that we would like to build. We will piece that together in a way that it will compete competitively for that Arizona Commerce Authority grant.”
Other partners will come into play, according to Kephart. He said, “Many stakeholders are looking to build out the broadband network statewide. If you look at it like the interstate highway system to the local road system and everything in between you can understand. You can’t just build local roads if they don’t have anywhere to connect to and if you just build highways, people still can’t get home, you need it all. And we are a significant piece of that. Which is why we will also be working with NACOG (Northern Arizona Council of Governments) to do the regional research on how to connect our county to the physical broadband hubs. I think we have the makings of a really good project that will compete well.”
The ACA grant does have a limit of $10 million per project, Kephart explained, “That will go a long way and we will be able to get a lot done with that money. This is real stuff and it’s a matter of getting the research and the right partners together.”
The federal government has also seen the need for high-speed internet connectivity as it has recently passed a bipartisan act containing $65 million earmarked for broadband improvements.
Navajo County Economic Development Director Rochelle Lacapa said, “There are multiple ways within the infrastructure bill in which dollars will come to the county. There is $100 million in formula funds specifically coming to Arizona for middle mile connectivity. Additionally, there is $1 billion in new federal grants that the county can apply for specifically for high speed internet. The federal government also put $2 billion into the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) reconnect program. If you remember, this is the program that allowed schools and libraries to receive internet connectivity. There is also $2 billion in grants for tribal broadband connectivity.”
She continued, “One of the things that the Navajo County master plan includes is making sure we are tying into and connecting to what our tribal neighbors are needing as well, making sure we are partnering and leveraging all of the resources that are available.”
