Ramirez: Why Brownsville got into the fiber optic broadband business

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – When the City of Brownsville and its partners first considered getting into the fiber optic business, 44.8 percent of the city’s residents did not have broadband connectivity.

So, the city really did not have much choice, explained Brownsville City Manager Helen Ramirez.

“When we first started this initiative back into 2020 – it was really prior to COVID hitting – we felt we were one of the least connected cities in the nation. About 44.8 percent of our population did not have internet connectivity at that time,” Ramirez said.

And so, city leaders reached out to Brownsville ISD, Texas Southmost College, UT-Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation, Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, and other partners to see if they were open to having a city fiber network.

“And they were. We really are not happy with the service that we had,” Ramirez said.

“The government usually doesn’t get into the fiber business. But when there’s a pain point and a need that the community is saying and you’re seeing – which COVID magnified – then you realize that it is a community pain point that we have to solve.”

Ramirez said the federal government provided the City of Brownsville with $67 million to deal with the pandemic. Of that, city leaders decided to invest $19.5 million into a broadband project. 

“We took $19.5 million, and we said we’re going to build out the middle mile. It’s almost like your main highway and from there, the tentacles, the last mile, which is to your home and business, we’re going to do a public-private partnership. And let’s leverage the $19.5 million with a private company to help us build out the last mile.”

The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service secured an in-depth interview with Ramirez at the official opening of Lit Fiber’s Demo Center in downtown Brownsville. Lit Fiber is the City of Brownsville’s partner in its fiber-optic project and will be responsible for delivering the last mile.

Here is a video recording of the interview:

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