Huge fiber ring planned around Tucson to boost Internet service for rural Pima County

Pima County is set to get a 134-mile line of fiber internet infrastructure to create a ring surrounding the urban core of Tucson that’s set to provide high-speed internet access to rural and historically underserved areas.

The Biden administration announced more than $930 million in high-speed internet infrastructure grants across the country on Friday, of which Pima County is set to receive $30.3 million over five years from the National Telecommunications Information Administration.

The county plans to construct an open-access fiber ring that it’s calling the middle mile infrastructure project to quickly carry large amounts of data over long distances the county said is expected to reach one-third of the county’s population.

The county and nearby jurisdictions are required to provide $12.5 million in supplemental funding for the project, bringing the total investment closer to $43 million.

“One of the significant things about access to broadband is that when that happens, economies, communities flourish,” County Administrator Jan Lesher said at a news conference Friday. “We know that the statistics are there and that areas that have higher access to broadband services, they earn more, their wages are higher, there is lower unemployment, and there's much greater opportunity for economic development.”

The middle-mile infrastructure will consist of high-capacity fiber lines that internet providers can use to carry high-speed internet service to end users. The project’s first phases will begin sometime within the upcoming fiscal year that starts on July 1, the county said, and will involve implementing compliance guidelines from the National Environmental Policy Act that requires certain environmental protections for federal projects.

It will take “significant amounts of construction” to build the underground fiber lines in the coming years, Pima County Information Technology Director Javier Baca said, and the project will include “anchor locations” for internet providers to connect.

That means internet providers won’t have to lay the fiber infrastructure themselves to reach low-density areas that yield a minimal return on investment. Instead, the fiber will already be available for providers to connect rural residents to the internet.

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“This ring doesn't provide internet service in itself, it provides access to those internet service providers in a much more affordable way for those internet service providers to get into the market,” Baca said.

Nearly 10% of households in Pima County lack broadband internet access, according to data from the Federal Communications Commission. Some communities the new fiber line will reach showed up to 18% of households had no internet access, the county said.

Rex Scott, the Pima County Supervisor presiding over District 1, said he often hears concerns from constituents about the lack of internet access in Catalina and other areas in the foothills. Those concerns heightened as many students shifted to online, remote learning models throughout the pandemic, creating barriers for those without internet access.

“When it comes to education, we shouldn't have a system of haves and have-nots, and that's the part of this grant that has me the most excited, because it will give struggling families and their children access to schools that a lot of us take for granted,” Scott said.

The new project adds to the ongoing Connect Pima program that aims to build broadband infrastructure and increase internet access throughout the county while promoting digital literacy among residents. The county’s been partnering with the city of Tucson to expand internet access throughout the region and is currently working on making sure the city’s fiber network connects with the county’s to avoid “two disparate networks,” said Chris Mazzarella, Tucson’s chief information officer.

“This is a key piece of infrastructure, just like the roadways are,” Mazzarella said. “When we look at these fiber capabilities, it doesn't just immediately fill the gap, and it doesn't just help with some of those underprivileged areas, but it also makes sure we're well positioned for the future for decades ahead.”