Fiber optic Wi-Fi comes to Kyle, Buda

KYLE — Fiber optic internet is officially expanding to Kyle and Buda, thanks to AT&T Fiber.

A celebration of the new addition to the area was held at the AT&T store in Kyle on Jan. 26 with the community and AT&T team members.

Local leaders, including Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra, Kyle assistant city manager Amber Lewis and Buda mayor pro tem Evan Ture (in place of mayor Lee Urbanovsky), also attended and spoke.

Fiber optic internet, commonly referred to as fiber, is a form of broadband that uses a network of bundled glass fibers to deliver internet service via light waves.

Traditional internet service transfers information through electric signals over copper wires. Fiber optic cables are able to transmit information at a much faster speed, despite being only slightly thicker than a strand of human hair.

The installation process requires a small utility box called an optical network terminal, or ONT, to be installed either inside or outside your home. A cable is then run from a nearby equipment box to the ONT, which carries the fiber-optic connection from the larger network to you. Several neighborhoods in Kyle and Buda have had these equipment boxes installed.

The fiber built in Kyle and Buda will bring fiber connections to 1,300 new locations. Becerra highlighted the need for this service, saying that fast and reliable internet is “mission critical” to the community.

“According to a Recon Analytics survey commissioned by AT&T in 2021, the internet is so important that 71% of consumers said that they would not move to a location without it,” Becerra said. “If the consumers won’t move to a place without this internet, that means businesses won’t either. This makes strong communications infrastructure a critical component for drawing families, as well as investment and job growth to the Kyle-Buda area.”

“We are not the Texas Innovation Corridor without this fiber upgrade,” Ture added. “This is what’s needed to be a part of that economy.”

Tony Ramirez, director of AT&T External Affairs for AT&T Texas, said that AT&T’s investment in the Kyle-Buda area is part of the company’s $2 billion commitment from 2021 to 2023 to “help end the digital divide.” In the last three years, AT&T has invested more than $7 billion in wireless and wireline networks, including $10 million in Hays County, from 2019 to 2021.

“Investments like these are critical, because the COVID-19 pandemic brought into focus the need for robust and reliable internet connection,” Ramirez said. “Texas seized this opportunity and established a state broadband office, and appropriated more than $500 million from ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) to expand broadband infrastructure in the state.”

According to Ramirez, one gigabyte of fiber service allows up to 14 devices to be connected at the same time; stream, work, game and video chat on over 12 devices at the same time; and download a 90-minute HD movie in less than 32 seconds.

Kyle and Buda residents interested in getting fiber internet can visit www.att. com/internet/fiber for more information or the AT&T store at 5695 Kyle Pkwy, Suite 300 in Kyle.