How to Take the Pima County Broadband Survey (Aired 2026-4-9)

·11 min·1 clip

Michelle Simon reveals how Pima County's digital inclusion office is tackling unreliable internet access through a crucial resident survey.

1. This episode of Community Podcasts features an interview with Michelle Simon, Director of the Pima County Office of Digital Inclusion, about an active broadband survey covering Pima and Santa Cruz counties. 2. Michelle Simon is the Director of the Pima County Office of Digital Inclusion, an office focused on affordable high-speed internet access, digital skill-building, and connecting residents to low-cost devices. 3. The core question the episode addresses is: where in Pima and Santa Cruz counties do residents lack reliable, affordable internet, and how can survey data drive solutions? 4. The survey is funded by a USDA Rural Utility Services broadband technical assistance grant, designed to collect direct resident input on internet access quality. 5. Pima County spans 9,100 square miles, with its westernmost point in Ajo, approximately two and a half hours west of Tucson, covering areas far beyond what many residents assume. 6. Rural communities with poor internet coverage identified in the interview include Three Points (25 minutes from Tucson), Ajo, J6 Ranch to the east, Reddington Pass to the northeast, and Sycamore Springs, Corona de Tucson, Arivaca, and Sassabi to the south and southeast. 7. The Tohono O'odham Nation reservation also experiences spotty internet, though Simon notes that problems exist in non-reservation communities even closer to Tucson. 8. Simon identifies two distinct problems: areas where no viable internet service exists at all, and areas where service is technically available but priced too high for households to sustain month-to-month. 9. Residents relying on satellite internet pay high monthly costs that strain household and small business budgets, and bandwidth from small rural carriers is often insufficient for e-commerce. 10. Real-life impacts described include students in the Babakivri and Tanka Verde school districts struggling to complete online homework, and parents unable to work remotely or attend telehealth appointments. 11. Small businesses in poorly served areas cannot process payments, take online orders, market on social media, or maintain customer communication. 12. During the COVID pandemic, residents in Three Points, Sassabi, and Arivaca drove to school district parking lots and local libraries to access Wi-Fi for basic online tasks. 13. Simon acknowledges that while the COVID-era parking-lot Wi-Fi phenomenon has diminished somewhat, it still occurs in the most underserved communities. 14. The survey aims to produce a clear map of coverage gaps that the county and internet service providers can use to target infrastructure investments. 15. Simon argues that data and assumptions are insufficient; direct input from residents experiencing the problems is what gives the survey its value. 16. Success, as Simon defines it, means more families with reliable home internet, students completing schoolwork without interruption, and rural communities gaining access to jobs, education, and healthcare online. 17. The episode is a straightforward question-and-answer interview with a local government official; the tone is informational and civic-minded, with no debate or conflict. 18. The host asks focused, practical questions that draw out specific community names and concrete examples rather than general policy discussion. 19. Residents of southern Arizona — particularly those in rural Pima or Santa Cruz county — who are frustrated with slow or unaffordable internet would find this episode directly relevant. 20. Listeners outside southern Arizona or those uninterested in local broadband policy are unlikely to find this episode useful.

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