The Arizona Broadband Map was created in partnership with Maricopa County to provide insights into the current state of internet access and relevant socioeconomic factors and aid in identifying areas that could benefit from digital equity efforts.

Where the internet ends: Broadband maps illuminate Arizona’s access gaps

Interactive maps available on AZ-1 tell story of internet access in Arizona.

Jake Garcia

September 19, 2024

Access to the internet is more than a convenience – it’s a gateway to essential services like healthcare, education and workforce development. The ability to stay connected empowers households and communities, yet for many in Arizona, reliable internet remains out of reach.

The story of broadband access is told in great detail through the latest iteration of maps released by AZ-1, with support from the Maricopa County Broadband Initiative (MCBI). These maps offer a detailed look at internet access across the state, revealing where digital gaps persist and where efforts are most needed to bridge them.

MCBI is now in its second year and began in September 2022 with a $34 million investment – funding that put Arizona State University (ASU) at the center of the largest university-led digital equity initiative in the country. The initiative is a partnership between Maricopa County, which sponsors the work, and ASU, which brings together partners to close the digital divide across Maricopa, the fifth largest county in the United States.

Understanding the broadband landscape

Key to closing the divide is understanding where the gaps are and which communities are most affected. It is within this space that Ciera Parkhurst, a graduate student and geospatial analyst for ASU Enterprise Technology, has thrived.

Using Esri ArcGIS tools and platforms, she has created an updated set of interactive maps that visualize broadband connectivity and infrastructure data. The purpose is to identify priority areas and subsequently improve digital access and inclusion for people in those regions.

In the initial set of maps, which were released in October 2023, Parkhurst focused on Maricopa County. The maps have since expanded to cover all of Arizona, adding new data and interactive storytelling components to help paint a picture of broadband connectivity. The maps are organized into 155,444 census blocks across the state.

“People get really overwhelmed by looking at a spreadsheet that just has a ton of columns, a ton of numbers, you don't even know what you're looking at,” Parkhurst said. “So this just helps simplify it. I think that the ability to communicate data is really important.”

The data in question comes from multiple sources, including the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Recently released FCC broadband data was the impetus for Parkhurst to update the maps with additional layers of information. These layers, such as community anchor institutions and demographics, are interactive, allowing users to toggle them on or off to see trends.

Parkhurst and Kelly Mukherjee, director of technical program management for broadband and digital inclusion at ASU, have taken particular interest in the insights gained on “covered populations.”

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) identifies covered populations in eight categories–individuals with disabilities, a language barrier, members of a racial or ethnic minority group, primarily residing in a rural area, aging individuals, incarcerated individuals, veterans and individuals who live in covered households.

Each covered population category has historically shown low rates of internet use, or are underserved, meaning their broadband connectivity has download and upload speeds below a certain threshold (less than 100 mbps of download speed and less than 20 mbps of upload speed). Some are even unserved, with essentially no internet service at all.

Identifying where those disproportionately affected by digital inequity are located and the issues they face helps prioritize funding delivered by the MCBI.

“Our mapping data has been carefully curated and reviewed with data scientists, so the changemakers in Arizona know where to focus the work to include those who have been historically marginalized,” Mukherjee said. “We want everyone to work together as one and feel included.”

Connecting agencies, connecting Arizona

As MCBI seeks to fulfill its mission of bridging the digital divide, it continues to connect a coalition of organizations from the region. AZ-1 (pronounced “as one”) is a portal of resources dedicated to broadband and digital equity efforts, which includes the broadband maps. Institute for Digital Inclusion and Acceleration (IDIA) and Sun Corridor Network are the two other nonprofit organizations that specialize in different pathways to realizing the goal of digital equity and inclusion – and both have benefitted by implementing the maps from Parkhurst.

Erin Carr-Jordan, president and CEO of IDIA, said these maps help pinpoint areas of need and will soon inform the route for a mobile Hive. Stocked with desktops, laptops, robotics and 3-D printing, this vehicle will hit the streets this fall and focus on serving people outside of populous urban areas.

“Thanks to the mapping that ASU and AZ-1 are doing, it’s helping us make sure that as we’re planning for scale that we’re identifying highest need communities and where covered populations exist within those communities,” she said.

Parkhurst is also working closely with Sun Corridor Network to interpret and analyze data – insights that contribute to their fiber buildout throughout the state.

“They have a lot of internal data about where they plan to build out their infrastructure. I'm helping them make sure they have the data to do that and the knowledge of other data sets that layer over theirs, just to make sure they're staying on the strategy that they want and that it's actually going to help people get connected who need it the most,” said Parkhurst.

Laura Etter, deputy director of Sun Corridor Network, said Parkhurst’s maps have informed a fiber buildout project along Highway 60, and extending to other areas within Maricopa County. With the long term goal of acquiring fiber across the state of Arizona, Etter and the team are using these maps to bring more robust internet connectivity to places like Aguila, Wittmann, Wickenburg, Buckeye, Tolleson, Glendale, Casa Grande, Peoria and El Mirage.

AZ-1 has presented the maps with a number of anchor institutions – including Maricopa County Library District and Arizona State University Library – as well as over a dozen local leaders across cities, towns and counties that include Wickenburg, Aguila, Surprise, Yavapai and Pima, to name a few.

Different stories told by different sets of data

In addition to building out the broadband maps, Parkhurst and AZ-1 have also released StoryMap, which features analysis of changes between June 2023 and December 2023.

The FCC-compiled data is reported originally by internet service providers and includes information about upload and download speeds, latency (the time it takes for data to pass from one point on a network to another) and jitter (the inconsistent lag time that happens between a device and a server).

Parkhurst and Mukherjee noted several key takeaways from the new data: High-speed internet is still not a staple for some Arizonans and unserved populations mostly remain unserved. However, average broadband speeds are increasing for users who were already served.

Another key feature of the new maps compares the FCC reported data to Ookla® data, which relies on speed tests performed by users to give a more accurate representation of the actual coverage. When combined and measured against each other, the datasets can uncover previously hidden information. In the Phoenix metro specifically, Ookla® data unveils more underserved and unserved areas than originally identified by the FCC.

“It starts to paint a different picture. Now we're starting to see underserved areas show up,” Mukherjee said. “There's more work to be done. The good news is that we are identifying areas that aren't quite served when the FCC is saying it is served. It helps us identify where we can try to do more work.”