Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program

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The purpose of the Pima County Regional Middle Mile Fiber Optic Ring is to ensure that affordable, reliable and accessible high-speed broadband services can be provided to as many communities, county and local facilities, anchor institutions and recreational areas as possible.

The proposed project creates a 134-mile contiguous open access fiber network ring. The infrastructure will be made available to all viable internet service providers (ISPs) and other government entities to lease, share or swap resources. This future proof design has the capacity to accommodate expansive growth in the region. The network is designed in a ring surrounding the outer area of greater Tucson, Arizona and surrounding rural communities.

The proposed middle mile network path connects to 4 Central Office (CO) facilities. These four Tier 1 connections provide a link to the backbone of the public internet with physical interconnections for the exchange of traffic. The proposed middle mile infrastructure will reduce the cost for last mile providers to connect unserved and underserved communities by providing a neutral network that last mile providers can access in a non-discriminatory open access model.