Broadband expansion essential for rural East Texas businesses

The future for rural areas without internet access could be bleak, said Simone of GrantWorks. If an area lacks the internet connectivity businesses and employees need for work and life, they won’t stay there. Communities that do invest in broadband, however, could grow. That's why the East Texas Council of Governments is planning for broadband expansion in the region. The organization will work with internet service providers and county governments to secure funding for those projects, which will connect businesses and residences to a regional fiber-optic network. The Council hopes to take advantage of the billions in state and federal dollars Texas could receive for broadband expansion. The state has been allotted roughly $3.3 billion in federal funding, and voters will decide in November 2023 whether to spend another $1.5 billion in state funds for that work.