Arizona Broadband for Education Initiative |
the final mile project |
In 1997 I started working with the Arizona Corporation Commission and the Governors office, we initially came up with $8M as an ERATE "State Match". This initial funding provided $150M in fiber infrastructure to schools and libraries across the state in underserved areas.
Details can be found at: www.broadband4arizona.com |
The Spring of 23021 we found ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic. COVID had arrived and wrecked our learning environment. Students were not allowed to attend school and many of them in rural areas did not have internet connectivity at home.
Working with The Arizona Rural Schools Association, we were granted $3M from the Arizona Department of Education. With the funding, we built networks in the most rural areas of the state we could find and provided 100/25 internet connectivity for $10 per month. The most memorable being in the Apache Whiteriver area as evidenced by the ABC story: ABC15 Cibecue Internet |