Broadband Internet

Broadband internet is an essential part of our modern daily life. We take for granted things like electricity, clean drinking water, and telephone service but these utilities took a long time to plan and build out. Someday soon we will feel the same way about broadband internet. U.S. Census Bureau data indicate almost 2.8 million Texas households, and 7 million people lack broadband access. Twenty-three percent of Texans are unable to attend online classes, see a healthcare provider from their living room, fill out a job application online, start a business or access online marketplaces from their kitchen table. These barriers negatively affect Texans’ quality of life and limit economic opportunities for people and the state overall.

Cass County recently made the decision to join the National Association of Counties (NACo) for several reasons, not the least of which is to learn how to leverage State and Federal funds for broadband expansion. NACo provides helpful guidance to navigate through national policy regarding rural broadband and infrastructure funding. In my time as County Judge, I have had more meetings to discuss broadband expansion than perhaps anything else. It remains one of the top three priorities of the county along with having a clean financial audit and improving economic development in the county. Cass County strives to be the example rural Texas county for innovation, transparency, and accessibility. Broadband development plays a critical role in that vision.

NACo developed the “Test-it” application which gathers information about the availability of broadband internet so that data can be communicated back to policymakers to assist in allocating dollars where the need is most pronounced. If you haven’t downloaded the Test-it app on your phone, please do so and test your connection speed. https://www.naco. org/program/testit Cass County has more unserved or underserved than any other county in our region. Cass County was part of an early tranche of funding administered through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This funding was called the Rural Development Opportunity Fund (RDOF) which was a reverse auction of territory with the lowest bidder being Charter Communications which is branded Spectrum for internet service to consumers. You may have noticed their trucks conducting surveys throughout the county. RDOF is an FCC program designed to close the digital divide in the United States by investing billions of dollars in the construction of rural broadband networks. RDOF is intended to dramatically reshape the longstanding digital divide in the U.S. Cass County Commissioners Court has approved over sixty applications to dig in county rights of way (ROW) for the fiberoptic buildout related to RDOF. We are excited to be moving closer to connecting more citizens to broadband internet.

Cass County is actively engaged with both NACo, the Ark-Tex Council of Government (ATCOG) and other regional agencies as we work through this historic utility expansion. We also participated with the Broadband Development Office as they developed the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan which is now published and available at https://comptroller.texas. gov/programs/broadband/funding/digital-opportunity/.

This plan will serve as a roadmap for achieving reliable and affordable broadband, high-quality device access, digital skills training, and cybersecurity awareness to expand digital opportunities for all Texans. I highly encourage you to follow along in this historic infrastructure expansion. Cass County will not miss an opportunity to participate and advocate for broadband expansion in our community and will help shape priorities as expansion occurs.

This article was pulled from the Cass County Newsletter. You can subscribe at: https://www.co. cass.tx.us/