Broadband Initiative

Our Mission

Connect every Yavapai County residence, business, and community anchor institution with high-speed internet.

Project Overview

Yavapai County understand the importance of having access to high-speed Internet.  To meet this need, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors approved $16,883,047 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to provide access to high-speed Internet to 13,794 locations across Yavapai County.  This is just the beginning.

The State of Arizona received $993.1 million from the federal government’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program.  While these funds will be used throughout Arizona, Yavapai County Government, municipalities throughout Yavapai County, and other organizations will all be working to ensure as many locations in Yavapai County will be connected as possible. 

Lastly, once high-speed Internet is in place, assistance will be provided through a multitude of venues to help residents connect in a safe way that meets their needs.

BEAD

What is it? How do we benefit?

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for all residents to have access to high-speed Internet. To help ensure all Americans have access to high-speed Internet, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program was passed by the U.S. Congress. The program provides $42.45 billion* to build-out high-speed Internet throughout the entire country. Arizona’s portion is $993.1 million. The State Arizona determines how the funds will be spent and which broadband projects will move forward. While the State of Arizona has sole authority over the funds, they are partnering with counties, municipalities, tribal governments, and more to ensure funds are directed to areas that are most in need.

The BEAD Challenge Process

Arizona was awarded $993.1 million in federal funding to build infrastructure and expand internet access in rural and historically underserved communities. The BEAD Program rules require states to prioritize funds in this order:

1. Connect Unserved Locations (available service is 25/3 Megabits per second or less)

2. Connect Underserved locations (available service is at least 25/3 Mbps but less than 100/20 Mbps)

3. Connect Community Anchor Institutions to gigabit symmetrical service (1,000/1,000 Mbps)

What is the Challenge Process?

Areas that are eligible for Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment funds need to be in what are considered unserved or underserved areas as far as broadband service is concerned. Those are defined as:

Unserved: Having a connection that is less than 25 Megabits per second download and 3 Megabits per second upload. This is referred to as 25/3 Megabits per second.

Underserved: Having a connection that is less than 100/20 Megabits per second but greater than 25/3 Megabits per second.

Community anchor institutions should have a speed of 1000/1000 Megabits per second.

However, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) map may state that your home is served when it may not actually be served. The map shows that 84,975 locations in Yavapai County are served meaning that their Internet speeds are 100/25 Megabits per second or greater. The Arizona Commerce Authority challenge map allows you to see what the FCC believes the speed to your location should be by entering in your address as indicated in the image below:

Bead Challenge Instruction Download(PDF, 2MB)

Key Differences between ARPA and BEAD

1. Yavapai County is solely responsible for procurement relying heavily on guidance from the U.S. Treasury and consultants. BEAD procurement will be handled at the state level with the County acting as a partner in this process. 
2. No challenge process was available for the Federal Communication Commission's determinations of locations being served, underserved, or unserved. Moreover, the data used in the FCC map for ARPA was incomplete and outdated. BEAD has a challenge process.
3. BEAD will include separate funds for digital equity which will help residents learn about broadband, get help with devices, and get connected. ARPA did not have specifically designated funds for this purpose.
4. ARPA funds were to be used with each governing authorities' jurisdictions. BEAD will be statewide allowing for unique partnering opportunities between governing authorities throughout the state.

ARPA Totals per Internet Service Provider: