Longview News-Journal
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.
Still buffering: How East Texas lags the rest of the state in broadband
As a broadband connection becomes more integrated into life in the 21st century — from working to studying to keeping in touch with loved ones — rural East Texas continues to lag the rest of the state. Forty percent of people living in 41 East Texas counties did not have broadband in 2016, compared with 11 percent of the population statewide.