County says ARPA broadband awards nearly spent, eyes BEAD funds to reach remaining unserved locations

Corey Christians, the county’s library director and broadband manager, told the Board of Supervisors May 20 that the county has awarded nearly $16–17 million of the $20 million ARPA broadband allocation to ISPs and that many ARPA‑funded projects are close to completion. He said some ARPA projects (Cox, Sparklight, WECOM) exceeded minimum speed requirements — delivering gigabit service in many locations — and that several ARPA‑funded buildouts show early market penetration in communities such as Cortes Lakes and Verde Village.

Christians said Arizona’s BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment) allocation provides additional funding and that, at the county level, WECOM has been a major awardee with the potential to serve 22,437 unserved and underserved locations in Yavapai County. He noted that federal/state awards totalled nearly $993 million for Arizona, about half of which has been spent statewide.

Board members asked about permitting hurdles and a small number of RDOF awardees that have underperformed. Christians said county permitting has been “extremely smooth” and that some external permits (BLM, ADOT) have slowed specific projects such as Paulden; he said the county’s ARPA investments put it in a favorable position to move quickly when BEAD funds are issued.

Why it matters: The update shows tangible progress on county broadband goals, highlights remaining gaps in rural connectivity and sets expectations for how state BEAD funds could be used to close them.

Next steps: County broadband staff will monitor BEAD guidance from the state, keep the board informed, hold stakeholder meetings (countywide broadband infrastructure meetings and BEAD stakeholders meetings), and continue coordinating microtrenching and permitting under new standards.