BROADBAND IN TEXAS

TREAD supports expanding broadband access to rural communities in Texas. Over 2 million Texas homes don’t have high-speed internet. Additionally, only 69 percent of Texans in rural areas have access to broadband. Access to high-speed internet is not a luxury in today’s world but rather a necessity for rural communities. Rural communities rely on broadband access for telemedicine, agriculture, education, business and tourism. Expanding broadband access is a bipartisan issue and has received widespread support from the Texas Legislature.

DID YOU KNOW?

Increasing access to digital tools could bring in $6.7 billion in increased annual sales for rural Texas businesses.
Texas has more schools in rural areas than any other state.
Close to 275,000 Texas students require more bandwidth for online learning.
Nearly 25 percent of Texas farms have no access to broadband.
Out of Texas’s 254 counties, 64 don’t have a hospital and 25 have no primary-care physician.

RESOURCES:

Worst Connected Cities 2017, provided by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA)
Texas’ Digital Divide – The State of Broadband in Texas’ Rural Communities, by Lauren Mulverhill with Texas Comptroller
Analysis: A digital divide with dire consequences for Texas – Article by Ross Ramsey with The Texas Tribune
Tread Coalition Rural Health, Telemedicine & Broadband One-Pager