To the Mayor of Phoenix, Phoenix City Council, Phoenix Street Transportation Department, and Office of the City Engineer:

Phoenix residents deserve the same access to modern fiber internet that our neighboring cities are already receiving.

Mesa, Chandler, Queen Creek, and Tempe have moved forward with Google Fiber or Google Fiber construction. Phoenix should not be left behind because of an extended dispute over construction methods that are already being used successfully in nearby communities.

We are asking the City of Phoenix to remove unnecessary barriers to Google Fiber deployment and adopt a practical, Mesa-informed approval process that allows fiber construction to move forward without sacrificing street safety, pavement quality, or public accountability.

This is not a request for Phoenix to ignore its responsibility to protect public streets. The city has every right to require safe construction, proper permits, licensed contractors, inspections, pavement restoration, warranties, public notice, and repair obligations. Those protections should remain in place.

But those protections should not become an indefinite delay.

Phoenix has already acknowledged the need for a framework allowing fiber-to-the-home providers to operate in the public right-of-way. The remaining issue appears to be whether providers like Google Fiber can use microtrenching and other efficient construction methods that make large-scale fiber deployment practical.

Microtrenching should not be treated as an untested experiment in Phoenix when Mesa has already allowed it, managed it, and used it as part of a broader effort to bring high-speed fiber options to residents and businesses. Mesa is not a distant comparison with a different climate, a different construction environment, or a different regional utility landscape. Mesa is our neighbor. It is part of the same metro area. It is the obvious local model.

Phoenix should use Mesa’s experience as evidence, not ignore it and require Phoenix residents to wait through another open-ended process.

We are asking the City of Phoenix to do the following:

Treat Mesa and other nearby Arizona deployments as the local proof of concept for microtrenching and fiber construction standards.
Allow Google Fiber and other qualified fiber providers to move forward under clear, published, objective construction requirements.
Replace open-ended pilot delays with a defined approval pathway based on measurable standards, inspections, bonding, warranties, and enforcement.
Publish any Phoenix-specific concerns that differ materially from Mesa’s conditions so residents can understand what still needs to be solved.
Require providers and contractors to repair any damage they cause, restore affected areas to city standards, provide neighborhood notice, and remain accountable for failed work.
Create a transparent public timeline for fiber deployment approvals so residents know whether Phoenix is actively solving this issue or simply allowing the process to stall.
Phoenix residents need real broadband competition. High-speed internet is no longer a luxury. It affects work, education, emergency communication, small businesses, telehealth, public safety, and basic participation in modern life.

Many residents currently have too few meaningful options. That lack of competition affects price, reliability, customer service, and quality. Bringing more fiber providers into Phoenix would not only benefit people who choose Google Fiber. It would put pressure on the entire local internet market to improve.

The City of Phoenix should not be more restrictive than necessary when neighboring cities have already shown a workable path forward.

We support responsible construction. We support street protection. We support contractor accountability. We support clear standards and strong enforcement.

But we do not support using those concerns as a reason to keep Phoenix behind while surrounding communities move forward.

Phoenix should adopt a Mesa-informed fiber deployment pathway and allow Google Fiber construction to proceed without further unnecessary delay.