Desert Messenger

November 15, 2023 www.DesertMessenger.com 29 Quartzsite Kingman Phoenix 2023 Quartzsite Angel Tree Assistance Application Process Applications must be taken by phone. Children to age 14 can be serviced that reside in the Quartzsite area. Please know children's sock/slipper, shirt/pant, and pajama size, toy in- terest and reading interest if appropriate. Please call 928-927-3636 or 360-921-7571 Lee-Ann, Manager Quartzsite Salvation Army Thrift Store and Service Center Please call in now. THANKS! Broadband comes to rural Arizona Governor Hobbs attended a Groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, Novem- ber 14, 2023 in Kingman to Commemorate the construction of high-speed, gigabit broadband Internet to serve 13,600 rural homes and businesses in Mohave and La Paz counties, as well as 400 homes on the Hualapai Reser- vation. Attendees included Wecom CEO Paul Fleming, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs; Sherry J. Parker, Chairwoman of the Hualapai Tribe; Travis Lin- genfelter, Chairman of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors; Holly Irwin, Chairwoman of the La Paz County Board of Supervisors and other state and local officials. Hundreds of thousands of rural Arizonans lack equal access to high-speed broadband Internet. In 2022, Wecom Fiber – a Kingman-based Internet service provider – was awarded a competitive, $10 million Arizona Broad- band Development Grant to bring affordable, gigabit Internet to Mohave and La Paz counties. Separately, Wecom applied for and was awarded a $3.2 million USDA ReConnect Grant to bring high-speed Internet to the Hualapai Reservation. In total, both projects will deliver 2,250 miles of fiber, facilitate 250 jobs and connect an estimated 32,500 rural Arizonans with gigabit broadband Internet. Initial homes in Mohave and La Paz counties are scheduled to go online in February 2024, with the network completed by June 2025. Quartzsite Town Council approved Resolution 22-03 on January 25, 2022 in support of Commnet Broadband Proposed Broadband Project in La Paz County. According to Wecom, "Construction of the Wecom broadband will begin in Quartzite in June 2024 and be completed by February 2025. This will be high-speed internet for everyone … residential, business, gov- ernment, etc." Map courtesy of Wecom Governor Katie Hobbs stated, "We are on track to bridge Arizona's deep digital divide…connecting all unserved and under-server Arizonans, especially in tribal and rural communities."

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