FLORENCE, AZ – The Town of Florence approved a communication services license agreement with Bicentel LLC on February 3, 2026. The council passed it as a consent item, meaning no public discussion took place. The agreement grants the company permission to build, install, and maintain broadband infrastructure within town rights-of-way.
A Broader Fiber Expansion in Arizona
The Florence license agreement comes as Bicentel, also known as C3ntro Telecom, expands its fiber optic footprint across Arizona. A map published in the company’s April 2025 press release depicts the Tikva (Hebrew, “hope”) Project route passing through the corridor between Phoenix and Tucson, where Florence is located. The Tikva Project is a major cross-border fiber route linking Phoenix to Querétaro, Mexico, passing through southern Arizona with a border crossing at Nogales.
C3ntro is an international telecommunications and fiber infrastructure provider headquartered in Mexico City. The company provides voice, SMS, virtual numbers, traffic management, and communication platforms as a service to carriers and enterprises. It also builds and operates fiber optic infrastructure with more than 30 years of experience in the industry.
The company began building fiber infrastructure in the Phoenix area in January 2025. Its primary focus has been on connecting data centers and supporting demand from large-scale cloud and artificial intelligence operations. Simon Masri, president of C3ntro Telecom, called the U.S. expansion “a proud and pivotal moment” for the company. He said the move reflects C3ntro’s mission to bring three decades of telecom expertise to one of the fastest-growing data center markets in the world.
Florence is also emerging as a data center destination. In October 2025, the Town Council voted 7-0 to convert 1,619 acres at Dobson Farms from planned residential development to data center and industrial use. That project could approach 1 gigawatt of electrical demand. An earlier planning commission hearing outlined the scope of the development, which includes at least 15 data center buildings across two of the three sites, with additional facilities planned at the third.
C3ntro’s publicly stated business has centered on serving carriers, data centers, and enterprise clients.
What the Bicentel License Agreement Covers
Under the agreement, Bicentel gains permission to use Florence’s public rights-of-way to construct, install, operate, and maintain broadband internet infrastructure. According to the contract, installation is generally required to be underground through trenching, boring, or microtrenching, though aerial installation is permitted only on existing infrastructure. New aerial attachments and overlashing are prohibited. The agreement also allows Bicentel to lease or sell dark fiber, conduit, and other system components. Dark fiber refers to fiber optic cable installed but not yet carrying data. Buyers of physical infrastructure must hold their own license with the town.
Revenue for the Town
Under the contract, Bicentel pays the town an annual fee based on the lesser of two options: a per-linear-foot rate for trench in the rights-of-way (based on a 2024 baseline rate of $2.46, adjusted annually for inflation), or 2% of gross revenue from accounts within town limits. First-year revenue remains unknown because Bicentel has not yet built any infrastructure or generated any local revenue.
The funds will go into the town’s General Fund under a designated Bicentel LLC License Fee account.
License Duration
The license runs for 10 years and automatically renews for up to three additional five-year terms. In total, it could remain in effect for up to 25 years.
