Thank you again to the Governor, Comptroller and the Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) for the passionate work and amazing results which have been achieved thus far.
I would like to specifically thank the BDO for referencing South Texas starting on page 9 of the executive summary of the draft Texas Digital Opportunity Plan.
Many of the systemic root causes of the region being one of the historically most underserved and unserved areas in the country when it comes to connectivity are listed. I believe this train of thought and affirmation of the current state of connectivity, or lack thereof, fully complies and addresses the spirit and letter of National Telecommunications and Information Administration's mandate that "entities must also prioritize persistent poverty/high-poverty areas, speed of proposed network..."
As your personal, repeated visits to South Texas and other areas have revealed, there are some areas where the common corporate mantra of maximization of shareholder profits has led to a de facto "separate and not equal" level of service to the region.
The will of the people of the great State of Texas was expressed voting in favor of Texas Proposition 8. It should be noted that South Texas was amongst the highest percentage voting block in favor of the proposition.
I again, respectfully thank the Governor, Comptroller, and the BDO for their vision in bringing Internet for All to Texas.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by broadband infrastructure expert Guillermo Aguilar of Pharr. It is based upon a letter Aguilar submitted in the public comment portion of the Texas Broadband Development Office's draft Texas Digital Opportunity Plan. The commentary appears in The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service with the permission of the author.
