In August, a man walked into the Cuero Chamber of Commerce facing a serious problem. His printing shop needed to produce the programs for an upcoming funeral, but the business had lost internet.
Employees at the Chamber were able to help the man open the document he needed and put it on a flash drive so he could complete the job, recalled Angie Cuellar, the Chamber’s executive director. But the story was a reminder of how badly a mistimed internet outage can derail a local business.
“If we can get better broadband, or actually more reliable broadband, and higher speeds, our businesses hopefully won’t have those interruptions,” Cuellar said.
There once was a time when high-speed internet was a luxury. In fact, it can still seem that way sometimes. Your expensive internet service might allow five people to stream their favorite TV show at the same time, but is broadband really an essential utility?
When it comes to the business community, the answer is yes.
Richard Weber, co-owner of Weber Motor Company in Cuero, recently told the Advocate how the family-owned Ford dealership recently upgraded its internet to allow its service technicians to download files several times faster, allowing them to complete computerized repairs more efficiently. And most every business now relies on the internet for essential tasks like running their credit card machines — or printing out digital files.
That’s why the Texas Legislature’s passage of House Bill 5 this year, which creates a statewide broadband plan and establishes a broadband development council tasked with giving out grants and low-interest loans to bolster broadband access, is so important. While the private sector has already brought internet access to many local communities, many residential customers remain dissatisfied with their options — and businesses often have significantly greater needs when it comes to internet access.
There is buzz about potential low-cost satellite options like Elon Musk’s Starlink, but for now, installing high-speed internet remains expensive. In some cases, it can mean boring through concrete to install underground fiber-optic cables, which does not come cheaply. In small towns and rural areas where there are fewer potential customers for internet providers, the economics sometimes simply don’t work out.
Hopefully, House Bill 5 will represent the push Texas needs to make internet more affordable, reliable and available. If it does, businesses like that Cuero print shop will be able to do their jobs uninterrupted.
Victoria Advocate
