Connecting City’s Region Is a Goal for Multiple Partners

Already working to connect 22,000 residents, businesses and other users to high-speed Internet, one Texas city has now shared its goal to help connect its entire region.

Amarillo in June announced a partnership with AT&T to build a fiber network to address its digital divide. Now, with grant applications and multiple partnerships, city officials announced last week that fiber will be connecting some 62 entities with the help of additional federal funding.

The planning, with a lot of testing and a holistic approach, was underway for two years and included multiple local entities and planning partners, Rich Gagnon, assistant city manager and chief information officer, told Industry Insider — Texas in June. Gagnon also alluded to a multi-pronged approach that would inform and educate residents of the opportunities connectivity might bring them.

Gagnon recently told MyHighPlains.com that now the coalition, called Panhandle Connected, is ready to take the next steps for bringing broadband connectivity to the rest of the high plains. The group includes the city of Amarillo, Region 16, Amarillo Area Foundation, Impact Broadband, Grow Associates, and Connected Nation.

“That project, there are a few things happening there,” he told the news outlet. “We have just submitted for the NTIA Middle Mile grant, we have submitted for a $100 million grant to upgrade the fiber links from Amarillo to all 62 communities all across the panhandle and now that that is submitted we are working on the B grant which will provide connectivity from that fiber from the community to the homes.”