Arizona Telecommunication Summit a Success
Public/Private Partnership Calls for Arizona Broadband Development Authority

Over 200 government and industry leaders recently met at the Arizona Telecom Summit - 2007 to highlight the importance of improving statewide access to high-speed internet. Affordable broadband Internet and advanced telecommunications services are critical for the health, safety, welfare, educational advancement, and economic prosperity of Arizona communities.

Unfortunately many rural and other underserved communities in Arizona lack the infrastructure to support deployment of these services.

To increase broadband access in rural areas, the summit attendees voted to support the creation of an Arizona Broadband Development Authority. This Authority is intended to oversee the implementation of a statewide plan to increase access to and reduce the cost of high-speed Internet service in rural Arizona.

The summit was sponsored by the Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council and the Communications Infrastructure Advisory Committee of the Governor’s Council on Innovation & Technology.

The Summit hosted 5 decision making workshops to explore options and to reach consensus on policies and strategies to accelerate deployment of affordable broadband Internet connectivity and advanced telecommunications services to all Arizona communities.

They included:

• State Strategic Telecommunication Plan
• Funding mechanisms and strategies
• Rights-of-Way access
• Local community/Tribal planning and policies
• Telecommunication provider requirements

The Summit concluded with affirmation and votes of support for a number of policies, discussed in the workshops. These policies included the creation of a statewide Broadband Authority, and recommendations for clarifying the use and minimizing the cost of state, tribal, and county owned Right-of-Way for Broadband infrastructure.

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