Cooke Co. tackles broadband planning, advisory group to study options for better rural access
Mar. 1—There appears to be a broad consensus that broadband coverage needs to improve in rural Cooke County; how to do that and pay for it are matters for debate, however.
The Cooke County Commissioners Court agreed Monday to appoint an advisory group to investigate those questions. Each commissioner will appoint a member to the group and the court is expected to vote March 14 to move forward with the plan.
Two broadband providers made pitches to the court Monday. One plan would rely on offering more wireless broadband via cell towers, and the other would require running fiber optic cable lines across the entire county.
Joey Anderson, CEO of Nortex, proposed a $4.7 million plan to extend fiber-optic coverage to over 7,100 homes and businesses (roughly 80 percent of Cooke County) over the next four years.
The county and Nortex would likely split the cost evenly, with the county's share coming from federal stimulus dollars approved by Congress last year.
In addition, Anderson said Nortex would offer discounts to senior citizens and households with school-aged children in poor coverage areas.
Bill Baker, CEO of NextLink, wants to upgrade the 23 towers his company already operates in Cooke County and add at least a half dozen to better reach households in the Red River Valley and other spots with thick tree canopies via wireless internet.
Baker said his company could complete the work this year, at a cost of $3.2 million — $1.2 million from the county's stimulus money and another $2 million from NextLink. He also committed to price breaks for senior citizens and underserved homes with school-aged children.
A retired telecommunications engineer urged the court to get going. Sherman Moore, who owns a ranch near Callisburg, told the commissioners that his four decades of experience designing computer networks for AT& T taught him that there is no time like the present to get a big project off the ground.
"We've gotta get started ... the plans will become more developed as you go — I'm not saying 'shoot, then aim' — I'm saying 'do, plan'; 'do, plan.'" Moore said the advisory group to be appointed next month needs to reach out to rural internet users to gauge their needs, and he added that Cooke County needs to find out what plans the state's new Broadband Development Office (BDO) has for spending the $600 million it's been allotted to improve internet coverage across Texas.
Moore has gotten over 700 signatures from local residents on a petition demanding transparency from the BDO and inclusion in the decisionmaking process.
Precinct Four Commissioner Leon Klement agreed with Moore, stating that local broadband supporters need to lobby state officials on Cooke County's behalf.
"As a commissioners court, we shouldn't just be battling for this in here, we should be doing that in Austin, Texas," Klement said.
