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Pinal County schedules groundbreaking for 32‑tower county broadband project funded largely by federal ARPA dollars
Summary
County manager announced a groundbreaking at Toltec Elementary in Eloy for a project to install 32 cell towers to expand 5G and LTE coverage across Pinal County, funded mainly with federal ARPA and other federal sources and coordinated with schools and local partners.
Pinal County officials announced a groundbreaking next week for a county‑led broadband project that will place 32 cell towers at schools and other public sites to extend 5G and LTE coverage across the county.
County manager Luke told the board on Jan. 7 that the project is “fully funded through federal money, both the ARPA and other,” and thanked congressional and local partners for filling a funding gap. He said many tower sites will be at schools and community locations so students can access broadband, including Wi‑Fi on school buses.
The manager asked the public to attend the groundbreaking at Toltec Elementary in Eloy for more details. He credited Pinal Central for reporting on the project and singled out Tammy Ryle and Peter Lin for their intergovernmental work and for coordinating more than 18 intergovernmental agreements needed to execute the plan.
County officials framed the project as addressing rural digital‑divide problems highlighted during the pandemic, tying broadband access to education, public safety and economic development.
Next steps: Officials invited the public to the planned January event and said full project details and a county news article are available on the county website.
