Lamar County and Red River County will be receiving federal funding to help with the digital infrastructure in those counties. The Biden administration will spend more than 65 million dollars to build out rural high-speed internet in Texas. Texas will be one of 20 states to benefit from the investment under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider reports.
The biggest beneficiaries in Texas will be the regions around Abilene and Marfa, with smaller investments in Lamar, Red River, and Comanche Counties. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the aim will be to increase upload and download speeds in these areas to 100 megabits per second.
“Many parts of the country today still have limited Internet access in terms of upload and download speeds that simply don’t allow for multiple uses in a home, don’t accommodate distance learning or telemedicine, and don’t allow businesses to expand market opportunities, and would not allow farmers the opportunity of precision agriculture.”
About 70 percent of the investment will come in the form of outright grants, while the rest will come in the form of loans.