Description
The immediate need in Houston County is to increase access to fixed broadband. Seventy-nine percent of surveyed residents subscribe to fixed or mobile internet. Businesses, Agriculture, and K-12 facilities participating in the survey are also using the internet at high rates.
Objective
To increase deployment of infrastructure, the county must remove barriers to deployment. Although 25/3 Mbps speed is the current definition of broadband by the FCC, many consider this speed too slow for their needs. In Houston County, 83.32% of residents have access to 25/3 Mbps, but if we look at 100/10 Mbps speeds, the percentage of households served drops to 65.32% for household availability.
Actions
Action 1 – The county broadband advocate can work with local providers and the Rural Opportunity Development Fund (RDOF) recipients to increase access to higher broadband speeds and increase access to broadband in underserved and unserved areas.
Charter Communications will potentially receive $9,667,778 and Windstream Services is in line to receive $28,536 from RDOF. This could be a game changer for Houston County if partnerships are developed to understand where and how the money will be spent. Understanding provider plans should be considered when implementing Goal 1 above – building out broadband in Houston County. Although the money will go to the providers, the Houston County broadband advocate can work with the providers to agree on how to best serve the County’s broadband needs in the present and into the future.
Action 2 – Release an RFP to inventory potential broadband assets in Houston County and identify potential broadband providers, service offerings, and respective rates.
Work with providers to decrease the cost of deploying internet in underserved and unserved areas. This RFP can be combined with the suggested RFP under Goal 1, Action 4.
- The asset inventory will provide the County a list of existing assets that the County has that they can offer to providers to diminish their build-out expenses, such as:
- Anchor tenants
- Antennas
- Building rooftops
- Light poles
- Towers
- The RFP can determine why some areas are underserved/unserved and help create a business case for providers to offer broadband there.
Although RDOF money will significantly help build out a broadband network in Houston County, the providers have 3-10 years to complete their projects. This means some areas may not see internet service or increased speeds for many years. Working with local providers will be important for long-term solutions. Currently, Houston County is served by AirLink, Inc., Suddenlink Communications, and Windstream Communications. Windstream Communications does offer some fiber in Houston County with reported maximum speeds of 1000/1000 Mbps (1 Gbps), including 1 Gbps at the City of Crockett’s facilities.
Discuss with local providers the need to expand broadband services and ask why they have not done so to date. If providers are unwillingly to offer more plans at faster speeds, new providers should be given the opportunity.
With increased financial resources and competition in Houston County, providers may be willing to discuss providing services to underserved/unserved areas.
Action 3 – Provide resources to your community to help reduce the cost of internet service.
The survey shows the average monthly cost for internet service for residents is $82.74. The is well over other Connected communities and exceeds the 2% median household income of $63.17 in Houston County. Make resources offered by the federal government and local providers available to your community.
Responsible Parties
The broadband advocate should develop relationships with the local broadband providers, as well as establish contacts with the RDOF winners. Under guidance from the Commissioners Court, the advocate should launch approved RFPs, all responses should be reviewed and work monitored by this office. A list of questions should be asked of each provider to compare services, such as:
- Are you willing to share your network coverage map with the County?
- Is your company subject to any State/Federal regulations?
Connected Nation can provide a list of sample questions if needed.
- An updated list of loans, funding, subsidies, and grants should be maintained on the County website; http://www.co.houston.tx.us/, Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce website; https://www.crockettareachamber.org/, and the public libraries websites;Â https://crockettlibrary.com and https://www.grapelandlib.org/
- In addition, local school districts of Crockett ISD, Grapeland ISD, Kennard ISD, Latexo ISD, and Lovelady ISD should make a list of grants available. See Goal 5 for additional resources.
Resources   Â
