SAFFORD — Following the announcement from U.S. Rep. Tom O’Halleran that Safford will be a recipient of a portion of $24 million for expansion of broadband in Arizona’s first Congressional District, Safford Officials outlined where the funds will be spent.
Sam Napier, Information Technology officer for the City of Safford, said the nearly $64,000 the city received will be split between two projects. The first is a joint project with Valley Telecom to provide few WiFi in the Safford Downtown area.
The second project involves the installation of fiber infrastructure to Glenn Meadows, La Tierra and El Paso parks. Once complete, the city will be able to provide free WiFi in the parks.
“I look forward to continued work with our partners at the state and local level to ensure the broadband needs of our rural, tribal, and underserved communities are met,” O’Halleran said in announcing the Broadband Development Grants.
In addition to Safford, the grants include nearly $10 million each to Apache and Navajo counties, $4 million to Heber-Overgaard, nearly $1 million to Coconino County and $417,228 to Kearny.
