Muri said 25 percent of that must come from the local community. Commissioners listened, but no vote was taken.
He and other task force members at the meeting Tuesday are seeking funding to establish a nonprofit organization called the connector broadband office.
It would be community based and governed by a board of community members, who would in turn hire a full-time executive director to oversee the work for the next three years.
[The director] “will be charged with generating the dollars that will fund this as well as the execution of this shovel-ready plan within our community,” Muri said.
The office would begin the preparation and application process for federal funds that are part of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) broadband funding, which will distributed by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts(CPA) and the Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO).
“We anticipate in the state of Texas alone we'll have access to $4 billion as a state. But those dollars will be distributed on a competitive basis. This will simply not be apply and receive. There will be very stringent guidelines in place,” he said. “It will be communities such as ours ... currently we are one of four communities in our state of Texas that have assembled a cross-functional group of individuals that are focused on bringing high-speed broadband to its community.”
According to Muri:
- One in five Ector County ISD students rarely or never have reliable Internet at home.
- One of six households in West and south Odessa reports no Internet connection.
- Some 23 percent of residents report paying more than $100 per month for Internet.
- Area residents would like to have more options for in-home Internet service.
Muri is a member of the BDO’s advisory board, appointed in December.
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