Broadband Expansion
Gov. Greg Abbot has named broadband expansion an emergency item for the 87th Texas Legislature. A top priority for counties, broadband expansion has long been an important issue, but it is even more critical as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve.
County government officials and staff are often the first tasked with navigating and meeting resident need associated with the state’s lack of broadband connectivity.
The lack of connectivity in rural Texas creates barriers for accessing telepsychiatry and telemedicine, as well as online learning for rural students. These same challenges have appeared in economically disadvantaged urban communities.
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Texas Monthly, April 8, 2021
For months, Gus Peters, a high school senior in the East Texas town of Jasper, went where the Wi-Fi was. Some days, he parked himself at the local coffee shop, Jasper Java, ordering a green tea frappé to appease whoever was working the register...
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Texas Association of Counties, March 24, 2021
COVID-19 exacerbated the need for reliable high-speed internet access for all Texans. The pandemic led classrooms across the state to shift to virtual instruction. Office closures and capacity reductions moved meetings and workdays to home offices.
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The Texas Triune, March 8, 2021
Although much of the attention is focused in the lack of infrastructure in rural areas, large numbers of urban residents also don't have broadband subscriptions...
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Dallas News, Feb. 3, 2021
Taillights on a fleet of Duncanville buses lit up the roads early one morning just after the spring semester started. One turned onto Fouts Avenue and parked for the day as others passed by on their way to ferry students from their homes to their classrooms. The parked bus remained outside Renaissance Village Apartments for the next 10 hours, another kind of bridge between students and their schools. It was among a handful of vehicles across southern Dallas County that broadcast Wi-Fi signals into nearby neighborhoods...
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Texas Tribune, Feb. 1, 2021
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday unveiled a legislative agenda centered on the state’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and a series of more politically charged issues such as police funding and "election integrity." In his biennial State of the State speech, Abbott declared Texas is “brimming with promise” as it seeks to turn the corner on the virus and return to economic dominance, despite the fact the state remains very much in the throes of the pandemic...
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