Grant will provide broadband service to entire county

The Milam County Commissioners Court took steps to provide fiber optic broadband service to the entire county during a special meeting on Monday, June 21.

The court agreed to apply for a multi-million dollar grant offered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to provide fiber optic (not wireless) end user service to the residents and businesses of Buckholts, Cameron, Milano, Gause, Rockdale and Thorndale. 

The households and businesses in these cities represent about 5,000 of the 9,000 households in the county. 

Milam County Judge Steve Young said the grant requires the county to partner with a private provider that will actually provide the service. Due to this, the county is sending out a public competitive bid proposal for the work and the best applicant will be accepted. The grant must be submitted by Aug. 17 and a decision will be made by Dec. 1. 

Young said work on this project would be completed in about one year. 

This will provide speeds of 100 Mbps download and 25 Mbps upload, which are much higher than the 25 Mbps down and 3 upload. 

“In connection with the grant application, the county also authorized the use of about $100,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds for a broadband assessment,” Young said. “The assessment will be conducted by Connected Nation Texas and will determine the speed of service at thousands of locations within the county.”

“Running fiber optic throughout the county for this service will also improve the coverage and connectivity for those outside the cities,” Young said. “Many fixed-point wireless towers in the county operate without a fiber optic (hardwire) connection. More fiber optics in the county will allow many of the towers to be connected directly to the fiber and thus provide stronger signals.”