Arizona

Conexon Connect submitted compliance reports for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund locations in Mississippi, Florida, Missouri, Louisiana, Kentucky, Colorado, Arizona, Tennessee, and Illinois. Conexon Connect delayed its RDOF buildout in some states until state broadband offices finalized Broadband, Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) Program funding decisions. This delay, the company believes, was prudent because Conexon Connect’s network would require modification to account for any new BEAD-funded areas.

Valley Telecom, Graham County and the Arizona Broadband Department of the Arizona Commerce Authority celebrated its newest project with a ceremonial “first fiber lighting.” Dignitaries gathered in the Fort Thomas High School auditorium Monday morning to celebrate the $5.5 million project to bring broadband to Eden, Bryce and Fort Thomas. “Reliable broadband isn’t a luxury anymore; it’s a necessity,” said Arizona Broadband Director Nick Capozzi. Arizona Broadband granted $4.8 million to the project, with Valley Telecom contributing $464,000 and Graham County $250,000.

A new style of architecture is rising in the sprawling suburbs of the Sonoran Desert: windowless data centers that hum 24 hours a day and guzzle as much electricity as a midsize city.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) doesn’t appear to have made major changes to states’ award recommendations in the Benefit of the Bargain round in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program—at least not based on analysis of NTIA award approvals for several states. NTIA made relatively small changes to the award recommendations that Louisiana and Maine submitted in the Benefit of the Bargain round. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is not making any changes to awardee lists that have been approved by NTIA.

Flagstaff (AZ) tells the story of how one city turned a broadband gap into a model for municipal fiber deployment. Long underserved by incumbent providers, Flagstaff recognized that reliable, high-speed connectivity was essential not just for city operations, but for the economic future of the broader region—enabling remote work, telemedicine, education, and business growth across rural northern Arizona.

Commnet Wireless submitted a Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II build-out status notification for locations in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. Commnet was required to deploy 100 percent of its authorized locations in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada by December 31, 2025. Commnet’s initial data, which the company is continuing to review, shows that as of December 31, 2025, Commnet may not have reached the CAF Phase II deployment milestone in Arizona, and has not met the milestone in Colorado, Nevada or New Mexico.

Conexon Connect submits its 4Q 2025 Compliance Report associated with the gap in meeting its December 31, 2024, Rural Digital Opportunity Fund 40 percent interim milestone obligation for Study Area Code 459032 (Arizona). Pursuant to the Universal Service Administrative Company’s November 21, 2025, email to the Company, this letter addresses the Company’s efforts to close the Compliance Gap and explains how the Company will come into compliance. Because the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment and RDOF award areas are inextricably connected and include BEAD locations that are often on th

Governor Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) announced a critical milestone in Arizona’s plan to invest $967 million to expand broadband infrastructure across the state. Arizona received final approval from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, paving the way for the project’s implementation. Arizona's Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program is the state's largest-ever broadband investment, furthering Governor Hobbs’ goal of ensuring reliable, high-speed internet connection for all Arizonans by 2030 through her ConnectAllAZ initiative.

Under Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s leadership, our Benefit of the Bargain reforms restored the program to its statutory objective: universal connectivity delivered through competition, accountability, and respect for the law.  The result has been lower costs for taxpayers, real skin in the game for providers, and faster broadband access for consumers. States, freed from unlawful one-size-fits-all mandates, could evaluate projects on a granular basis and select those that truly fit their needs.

As part of Arizona’s expansive efforts to expand high-speed broadband access statewide, the Arizona State Broadband Office recently launched the Arizona Permit Finder, a first-of-its-kind interactive permitting map. The first-in-the-nation Permit Finder seeks to reduce regulatory barriers and accelerate the pace of broadband expansion—supporting new economic opportunities for communities across the state.