TOPAZ - Telecommunications Open Partnerships for Arizona

Summary

To aid in the rapid deployment of these broadband services, the State is aggregating government needs and soliciting more demand through community involvement.  In June of 2001, GITA teamed up with the School Facilities Board (SFB) to solicit proposals from telecommunication carriers under State to connect approximately 545 schools and 100 government offices in 135 rural Arizona communities with broadband telecommunication services.  Schools and government offices in rural communities now have a choice for broadband services at competitive pricing.  To meet the needs for individuals in these communities, cable operators throughout the State have formed an alliance under the name of "First Mile Arizona" to further the reach of services to homes throughout the State.

Next Steps

GITA is working closely with the Arizona Department of Commerce in helping rural communities and businesses define requirements for telecommunication services and to assist with rural economic development.  These community assessments are intended to help justify future development of infrastructure investments in rural Arizona. GITA is also continuing efforts to encourage carriers awarded under the following contract to commit to building a communication infrastructure in rural communities throughout the State.  The carriers have responded favorably in support of this important initiative with aggressive plans of building broadband communications throughout the State.   It is the State's intent to utilize the coordinated issuance of purchase orders for Carrier Services under the SPO Contracts AD0000170 to provide a statewide public telecommunications infrastructure, which facilitates the Governor's initiatives in education, equal opportunity and access throughout the State, telemedicine availability, and rural economic development.

Overview

In October of 2000, the State of Arizona contracted with the following nine telecommunications providers:  AT&T, Citizens Communications, Cox Communications, Global Crossing, GTECH, MCI WorldCom, Qwest, Sprint, Winstar.  These nine, selected under the contract, are positioned to bring increased bandwidth and telecommunication services to government-funded organizations.

State agencies collectively will spend $100 million over the next five years. By providing infrastructure development, these contracts will stimulate economic development throughout the State and provide an enormous benefit to rural communities in particular. GITA conservatively estimates that the buying power that it can leverage for this Preferred Partner's Program to be in excess of $100 million during the next 3/5-years. Therefore, the State desires to select those carriers that will provide the desired build-out and related value-add infrastructure in return for a 3/5-year commitment of services. Carriers are encouraged to form partnerships among themselves as needed to put forth the most advantageous offers to the State.

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