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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
AMENDED
critical telecommunications infrastructure; construction requirements
Purpose
Effective January 1, 2026, establishes the Secure Telecommunications Act of 2025 which prohibits, and requires the removal of, any critical telecommunications infrastructure that is constructed with, or has, equipment that is federally banned or manufactured by a federally banned corporation or foreign adversary and prescribes registration and reporting requirements for telecommunications providers and penalties for noncompliance.
Background
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) consists of five elected commissioners and is responsible for public utilities regulation, facilitating incorporation of businesses and organizations, granting or denying rate adjustments, enforcing safety and public service requirements and approving securities matters. Telecommunications providers, subject to the jurisdiction of the ACC, must be competitively neutral in relation to all telecommunications providers competing in Arizona (A.R.S. § 40-250).
Telecommunications are the transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user's choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received and does not include commercial mobile radio services, pay phone services, interstate services or cable services. Telecommunications services are the offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such users as to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used (A.R.S. § 9-581).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
2. Requires critical telecommunications infrastructure that is located within, or serves, the State of Arizona to be constructed without having any equipment, including any critical or necessary component of equipment, that is manufactured in or by:
a) a foreign adversary or a state-owned enterprise of a foreign adversary;
b) a company that is domiciled within a foreign adversary or that is owned or controlled by a
foreign adversary; or
c) a foreign adversary state-owned enterprise or adversary-domiciled company.
3. Requires critical telecommunications infrastructure in operation within or serving the State of Arizona, including critical infrastructure that is not permanently disabled, to have all prohibited equipment removed and replaced with nonprohibited equipment.
4. Exempts a telecommunications provider that removes, discontinues or replaces any prohibited telecommunications equipment or service from being required to obtain any additional permits to remove, discontinue or replace the equipment or service, as long as:
a) the state agency or political subdivision of the state is properly notified of the necessary replacements; and
b) the replacement telecommunications equipment is similar to the existing equipment.
5. Requires each telecommunications provider that provides a service in Arizona to file a registration form with the ACC and submit a registration fee, if required, in conjunction with the form.
6. Allows the ACC to adopt and charge a registration filing fee for telecommunications providers.
7. Requires a telecommunications provider to:
a) provide the ACC with the name, address, telephone number and email address of a person who has managerial responsibility for operations in Arizona;
b) keep all required information current and notify the ACC of any changes to the information within 60 days after the change; and
c) certify to the ACC, by January 1 of each year, that all critical telecommunications infrastructure and equipment within the provider's operation do not use or provide any prohibited telecommunications equipment or service.
8. Subjects a telecommunications provider to a civil penalty of at least $10,000 per day and no more than $100,000 per day for failing to comply with the prescribed requirements for providers and for submitting a false registration form.
9. Bars a noncompliant telecommunications provider from receiving any local, state or federal monies that are subject to distribution by state or local governments for the development or support of new or existing critical telecommunications infrastructure.
10. Defines a foreign adversary as Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Syria and the People's Republic of China, including the Hong Kong special administrative region, and includes any agent of or any other entity under significant control of a foreign country of concern.
11. Defines a federally banned corporation as any company or designated equipment currently, or at any point in the future, banned at the federal government level.
12. Defines banned as including any ban that results from:
a) the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), including any equipment or service that is deemed to pose a threat to national security and that is identified on the Commission's covered list and published by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC;
b) the U.S. Department of Commerce;
c) the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency;
d) the Federal Acquisition Security Council; and
e) the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act.
13. Defines critical telecommunications infrastructure as all physical broadband infrastructure and equipment that supports the transmission of information of a user's choosing, regardless of the transmission medium or technology employed, and that connects to a network that allows the end user to engage in communications, including service provided directly to the public or to the classes of uses as to be effectively available directly to the public.
14. Defines telecommunications provider as any corporation, public or private, that offers telecommunications services.
15. Defines telecommunications services.
16. Designates this legislation as the Secure Telecommunications Act of 2025.
17. Contains a purpose statement.
18. Becomes effective on January 1, 2026.
Amendments Adopted by Committee of the Whole
1. Redefines a telecommunications provider to be any corporation that offers telecommunications services, rather than any public or private corporation that operates any system that supports the transmission of information of a user's choosing, regardless of the transmission medium or technology employed, and that connects to a network that allows the end user to engage in communications, including service provided to the public or to the classes of uses as to be effectively available directly to the public
2. Defines telecommunications services.
Senate Action
PS 1/29/25 DP 4-2-1
Prepared by Senate Research
February 24, 2025
KJA/NRG/slp