Purpose

In our Networked World affordable broadband Internet and advanced telecommunications services are critical for community development and the health, safety, welfare, educational advancement, and economic prosperity in Arizona communities. Unfortunately many rural and other underserved communities lack the telecommunications infrastructure to support deployment of these services.

On May 17, 2007 ATIC, the Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council and CIAC, the Communications Infrastructure Advisory Committee to GCIT, the  Governor’s Council on Innovation & Technology,  will convene Arizona Telecom Summit 2007 - Advanced Telecom And Broadband Deployment In Arizona.  We expect over 300 people including federal, state, local, and tribal elected officials, policy advisors and CIOs, telecom service provider executives, and other key stakeholder representatives (economic development, education, government, health services, public safety, libraries, homeland security, CIOs, etc) will participate in these deliberations.  They will engage in planning, policy, and decision making workshops to explore options and to reach consensus on policies and strategies to accelerate deployment of affordable broadband Internet and advanced telecommunications services to all Arizona communities.

The plan is to leave the Summit with consensus on policies and  implementation plans to remove barriers to the deployment of this critical infrastructure.

ATIC and CIAC have been developing initiatives to address these barriers. The Summit will provide an update on these and other Arizona initiatives, and engage people throughout the state in addressing the following priorities:

• State Strategic Telecom Plan

• Funding mechanisms and strategies

• Rights-of-Way access

• Local community/Tribal planning and policies

• Telecom provider requirements  

Download Summit Documents

• Summit Background Briefing Document

• Arizona Broadband Initiative Framework 2007

• Summit Flyer

• Press Release

• Letter of Invitation

• Online Briefing PowerPoints

• Additional Background Documents

Focus On Middle Mile

The primary focus of the Summit will be on the Middle Mile. There are two primary telecom services required to deploy broadband into a community – Last Mile and Middle Mile. The Last Mile is the Internet connection between the Internet service provider (ISP) and businesses, homes, schools, etc. The Middle Mile is the high capacity trunk lines and associated infrastructure to connect communities to the Internet backbone points-of-presence located in major metropolitan areas such as Phoenix and Tucson. If a common middle mile infrastructure is not available, at reasonable rates, communities or last mile providers must construct their own middle mile infrastructure. This may prohibit deployment of broadband service or significantly increase the last mile costs and end users monthly rates.

Should You Attend?

You should attend if you are a federal, state, local, or tribal elected official or policy advisor, telecom service provider executive, or other key stakeholder representative (economic development, education, government, health services, public safety, libraries, homeland security, CIOs, etc)

See Who Is Invited

Events & Online Pre-Summit Briefings

Summit Events

The Summit includes:

• Pre and Post Briefing Documents on the Summit Web Site

• Four Statewide Online Briefing Sessions prior to the May 17 event

• Keynote Presentations

• Planning and Policy Development Breakout Sessions

• Technology Expo and the Arizona Technology Council  After5 Reception and
  Networking Event (Free and Open To The Public)

Pre and Post Briefing Documents on the Summit Web Site

The Summit Briefing Document is available for download from this site.

Online Pre-Summit Briefing Sessions

The Summit includes four online Pre-Summit Briefing Sessions prior to the May 17 event. You will be able to participate from the convenience of your office or community by statewide audio and web conferencing provided by iLinc Communications. In order to keep the Summit event to a single day we will utilize the online meetings to provide background information, technology overviews, updates on Arizona issues and initiatives, best practices, etc. This will enable us to focus on policy and strategy deliberations on May 17.

Please note that if you cannot attend these sessions at the scheduled time they will be available for viewing from this web site a day or two after each presentation.

Topics include:

• Issues and Overview

• Local Community/ Issues, Policies and Best Practices

• Telecom Technologies

• Telecom Providers Perspective

One day Summit event May 17 at the Mesa Convention Center