Special Report: The Internet and Rural Texas

Much of Area Internet Not Up to Speed

In the early stages of the 2021 Texas Legislative session, a significant number of lawmakers have signed on to one or more proposals leading to the same end — increasing rural Texas residents’ access to high-speed internet. In fact, in his opening remarks to legislators, Gov. Greg Abbott noted that a priority of this year’s session should be an act requiring Texas to develop a Statewide Broadband Plan. Currently, Texas is one of only six states lacking such a plan. Texas Rural Funders (TRF), in cooperation Connected Nation Texas (CNT), has lobbied for improved internet access in rural areas since since 2018, but recent events have made the challenges Texans without basic internet service more difficult.

“We could never have anticipated that the 2020 COVID-19 crisis would shine a direct spotlight on the disparities rural communities experience in accessing highspeed internet for remote learning, work, and healthcare needs,” a TRF representatives said. “Leaders across the state are organizing in their communities around broadband access with no shortage of determination.”

While Texas’ efforts to secure broadband service for rural citizens has fallen short of most other states, internet access and quality throughout the state is hit and miss. In rural areas, it is mostly “miss.” Still, some areas — even in rural counties — have achieved what TRF generally considers as an upper goal in internet service. “ TRF has identified “basic” service — that needed to access and utilize the internet for personal and professional purposes — as a connection of 25mbps/3mbps. While it is not the ultimate, a speed of 100mbps/10mbps is generally considered “high speed” for the average household of four owning a couple of computers, smartphones, and internet television.

What is high-speed internet?

In basic terms, high-speed internet is a level of service that allows the average household with an average number of connected devices to conduct business, use smartphone and apps, and be entertained with little difficulty. “High-speed” is a bit of a relative term, as the size of the household and number of devices is the determining factor in how well a given speed of internet serves a household. For the purposes of this article, “high-speed” and “broadband” are used interchangeably although broadband is more closely related to “how” connectivity enters a home. But, households with broadband service are more likely to have higher speeds than those without.

What does high-speed internet mean for Texas?

following information to help realize how important high-speed, or at least basic speed, is to Texans and the state’s economy:

1. High-speed or broadband internet services provides the average household an economic benefit of $1,850 annually.

2. In a community of 20,000, home-based business and online sales generate an average of $2.4 million annually.

3. 30% of tourism-related transactions are conducted online.

4. Small businesses using social media are 3 times more likely to have recently hired employees than those that do not. Likewise, those with websites have higher revenues than those that do not have an online presence.

5. Teleworkers save an average of $500 on car maintenance and fuel annually.

6. An increase of just 1% of households with access to high-speed internet would create jobs 12,000 statewide.

7. High-speed internet increase home values by an average of 3.1%.

8. Ag producers who use internet applications profit 6% annually over those that do not.

How do we rate locally?

in terms of the basic speed TRF is striving for, when it comes to high speed internet, the four counties lag well-behind those closer to Dallas and other cities larger than Paris.

If you reside in the four-county area noted, availability of basic or high speed internet service holds to the principle espoused by storefronts and businesses — location, location, location. The quality of internet service not only various by community, it varies by street. Highly-localized differences may be the result of what type of service (fiber, cable, etc.) has been installed on a specific street, while other times it is a matter of the hit and miss nature of wireless internet across the landscape.

In general, larger communities and cities are serviced with the highest internet speeds. As shown on the map above, Paris, Cooper, and Clarksville all fit into this group, as does a majority of the US 82 corridor east of Paris to the Red River County line. Even a portion of Roxton is considered to have high-speed internet, but availability is based on strictly defined lines (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).

Based on maps created by CNT and released in December 2020, residents living and around Roxton receive varying internet speeds and qualities. As noted on an enlarged map of Roxton (Fig. 2), the area north of Honey Grove Street and a largely uninhabited area northeast of town offer the best internet service. Other areas can only access lower quality service, including the businesses along Front Street and most of the south end of town. Outside the city limits, a majority of the area lacks even basic internet service.

Looking at the map that includes the eastern half of Fannin County, it is clear that residents in the area are woefully underserved. High-speed internet service is provided nowhere east of Bonham, including Honey Grove. Delta County is spotty at best, as is Red River County. Overall of the four counties detailed, Lamar fares the best. Still, a total of 17,289 households within the four counties lack high-speed internet. In terms of basic speed, this number decreases to 3,875. Regardless, between the four counties (including all of Fannin County with the majority of the population in Bonham and westward), 44,000 households exist.

Why Should You Care?

Rural areas are home to, among others, two categories of households — those including senior citizens and elderly residents, and those living on operating farms and ranches.

As time passes, society will become more and more dependent on access to the internet and the services it offers. COVID-19 and options for televisits to physicians are but one example, as a “virtual school days.”

Consider, for example, this week’s winter weather. Thanks to technology, few schools cancelled classes; instead, administrators announced “virtual school only.” In other words, the days of school closings due to weather may be a thing of the past — and kids in rural areas will need access to high-speed internet to keep up to speed with classmates.

For senior citizens, the advantages of the internet are growing exponentially, and with every passing day, more services are available to help seniors enrich and make their lives more convenient. For extensive, information, please refer to the article below.