State of Arizona Expands Rural Broadband Access with Ecopia Data

February 14, 2023 -- Toronto -- Today, Ecopia AI (Ecopia) announces the company was selected by the State of Arizona and Dewberry to provide a comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date map of all buildings throughout the state. The map is currently being used to secure federal funding for rural broadband expansion from the BEAD Program, which allocates funds to underserved communities lacking access to broadband internet services.

Like many other states, the State of Arizona aims to provide more equitable access to broadband by applying for BEAD Program funding from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). To do so, states must submit challenges to the FCC’s existing database of broadband serviceable locations (BSLs), which in many cases does not represent an up-to-date view of communities. Ecopia has partnered with several states, including Alaska, to provide foundational data for BEAD funding applications.

Arizona is the sixth largest US state, with an area of 113,900 square miles. It is home to over 7.2 million residents, making it the 14th-most populous. The state is also extremely diverse, containing many urban, suburban, rural, and tribal areas. This adds complexity to not only broadband expansion, but also to curating a reliable dataset for determining BSLs.

By teaming up with Ecopia, Dewberry and the State of Arizona are able to leverage high-precision building footprints extracted from up-to-date geospatial imagery for the entire state. This comprehensive dataset represents all structures in Arizona, serving as a source of truth for identifying BSLs to submit to the FCC. Ecopia’s Building-Based Geocoding further helps Dewberry and the State determine BSLs missing from the FCC database, as it accurately depicts which structures are related to each address. 

“Creating, obtaining, and maintaining a reliable database of BSLs in Arizona is particularly challenging due to the State’s wide variety of communities with their unique addressing systems,” said Hillary Palmer, Geospatial and Technology Manager at Dewberry. “Ecopia’s data is the most complete record of addresses and buildings for Arizona, allowing the State to submit location-based challenges to the FCC to secure funding for broadband expansion.”

“Ecopia is excited to empower states like Arizona with the foundational data they need to make broadband access more equitable,” said Sean Lowery, Senior Director of Product and Business Development at Ecopia. “We also look forward to seeing the State and their local government agencies use our geospatial data to develop innovative solutions beyond broadband.”

For more information on Ecopia, click here. To view our HD map samples, click here.

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About Dewberry
Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, Dewberry Engineers Inc. is a leading, market-facing firm with a proven history of providing professional services to a wide variety of public- and private-sector clients. To learn more, visit ​​dewberry.com

About Ecopia AI
Ecopia is on a mission to create a digital twin of the Earth. We leverage artificial intelligence to convert high-resolution imagery into high-definition (HD) vector maps. These maps form a digital representation of reality and are embedded into decision-making applications, offering unique insight at scale. Ecopia’s HD vector maps are leveraged for hundreds of commercial and government applications across over 100 countries around the world.