The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the community’s connectivity issues and stimulated additional conversations at all levels of government, ultimately leading to the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) feasibility study. The results of the study ultimately prompted community leaders to make a significant investment through a combination of low-interest-rate revenue bonds and allocated city American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
Currently, the city-owned broadband network extends to 75 percent of residential properties in Pharr, with the objective of having the city 100 percent connected by the summer of 2024. The city first placed high priority on extending the network to those in need of affordable, high-speed internet access, especially focusing on providing families with lower incomes and students an opportunity to excel like never before. Soon after, the city will be extending the service to small businesses, manufacturing companies, and multifamily-unit buildings in order to make a positive impact on the economic growth and development of the community.
Team Pharr.Net is off to an exceptional start, with more than 4,000 active household subscribers. Additionally, due to the high volume of business, the city continues to install internet service in an average of 120 homes per week.
Pharr–San Juan–Alamo Independent School District continues to show commitment to the issue by providing funding for service to every household that has school-age children, regardless of income. Due to PSJA’s commitment to its students, the school district has seen a 10 percent increase in enrollment. The community has developed a strong Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) outreach effort, and school families are using ACP to go beyond the minimum home broadband service package to higher speeds and value-added services such as managed home Wi-Fi.
All residents are benefiting from the city’s focus on affordability. Packages start at $25 per month for a 500 Mbps symmetrical service. Gigabit service is $50 per month and 2 Gbps service is available for $80 per month.
In addition to prioritizing affordability, Pharr community leaders are focused on extracting high value from the network as they execute their strategic technology plan. Key elements include winning grants for programs that address telehealth, workforce, and small business development, and building a quality workforce. The plan focuses on closing the digital divide and on helping residents gain technology knowledge and skills.
City staff have credited other public-sector leaders and staff, as well as technology vendors, for assisting Pharr through this entire planning, construction, and service delivery process. In turn, Pharr city staff are responding to other communities as they consider their own broadband investments. While every community is different, leaders face many of the same considerations.
Pharr’s community-owned FTTH network was birthed through the city’s IT department rather than through a municipal electric utility or the public works and utilities divisions. IT departments generally do not have public infrastructure or outward-facing customer service staff, but Pharr successfully developed these capacities in relatively short order with high levels of resident satisfaction. City leadership has implemented a strong program of measurement and evaluation to ensure high levels of service.
In 2019, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) named Pharr, Texas, the worst-connected city in the nation based on the extent to which Pharr residents were provided access to the internet. Unfortunately, this statistic had been previously evident to community leaders. In 2015, Mayor Dr. Ambrosio Hernandez recognized that the digital divide was a result of lack of affordable service and accessibility. Due to the absence of cost-effective internet access, the city of Pharr classified the pertinent issue as a critical community project, with the intentions of bridging the digital divide in Pharr.
In 2017, the City of Pharr, in collaboration with Pharr–San Juan–Alamo Independent School District, Region One Education Service Center, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and private entities such as BBVA Compass bank, announced a pilot project, Pharr Life Net, that brought free internet access to 50 families in their homes. The City of Pharr invested $90,000 in the household study on external devices and equipment for each home, and $100,000 was invested through a Federal Reserve partnership with BBVA Compass for a financial-impact feasibility study.
Own Your Internet 