SAN JUAN, TEXAS - More than 1,200 residential and business locations in San Juan are now enjoying high speed fiber thanks to AT&T. More than 2,000 additional locations expected to come online throughout the remainder of the year, officials say.
The company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at San Juan City Hall on June 25, 2026, to celebrate. Among those who speak at the event were J.D. Salinas, vice president for external and legislative affairs at AT&T, state Rep. Armando Martinez, Cynthia Sakulenzki, president and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Jorge J. Garcia, executive director of San Juan Economic Development Corporation.
Salinas praised San Juan officials for being a business-friendly city.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the RGG Business Journal secured an exclusive interview with Mario A. Barragan, director of external and legislative Affairs for AT&T in South Texas.
Asked how many homes and businesses can access the new services AT&T is offering, Barragan said:
“We've already deployed fiber to 1,200 homes and businesses, and the plan is to deploy fiber to another 2,000 homes by the end of the year. So, by the end of the year with 3,200 homes. But that is just the tip of the iceberg, if you will. So we're going to continue to build out in the (Rio Grande) Valley. That's still the plan.”
Asked what speeds are being offered, Barragan said:
“Our fiber can go up to five gigabytes of speed. There are different packages. You can start at one gigabyte and it'll go all the way up to five gigabytes. But again, that's kind of the tip of the expert too, because our labs are already testing speeds up to ten gigabytes.
“Once you have fiber, that's a beautiful part about it… as we upgrade our network, those additional speeds are going to be available, once we deploy it. In fact, if we wanted to deploy it right now, we probably could already. But there's not a demand for that type of product (in the Valley) yet.
“Later, when more cities have everything connected and you have more of a smart cities (approach) and the bandwidth is needed, then we can deploy that too. That's the beauty of actually having a fiber infrastructure, it lets you plan for the future.
And by fiber, does AT&T mean fiber cables buried underground, Barragan was asked. He responded:
“Yes. Anywhere where we're deploying to existing buildings, there's going to be a combination But or the most part, new construction is going to be underground. For existing buildings, there's going to be a combination, but most of the time it is going to be buried.”
Asked if AT&T has settled on the price it plans to charge residents and businesses for the service, Barragan said:
“Well, there are different packages. We have packages as cheap as $29 when we talk about our access program that we do for our people that qualify based on income. So, there is a wide range of packages, depending on the need.”
Asked why AT&T chose San Juan, Barragan said:
“Well, we've invested heavily in Texas overall, and in the Valley as well. But San Juan, especially here today, because it's always easier to invest in communities or in cities that are business-friendly, and then they make it easy to do business, make it easy for us to get permits, and make it easy for us to work with the city and their zoning and planning department.
“And this accelerates our build-out schedule, and it accelerates really everything, and decreases the cost as well. So, that plays a large part as well.”
Asked if there was anything else he would like to add, Barragan said:
“No, just simply that we're not done. AT&T has invested over $13.7 million into our network in Texas between 2021 and 2025 It's quite a significant investment. A good chunk of that happens in the Valley, and we're going to continue to deploy and continue to have a target of doing our part to really help the Valley.”
Editor's Note: Here is a video recording of the press conference:
