Sahar Chmais
When it comes to broadband internet, Buda residents only have one provider they can resort to – Spectrum. The city of Buda wants to push for change in this regard to give their residents more options by using a municipal broadband, which might be possible if approved in the upcoming Legislative session.
Council members have not decided which route they want to go through yet; either creating a municipal broadband, or having multiple companies place their services in the city, but they will come to some sort of agreement during the upcoming meeting on Oct. 7.
“What I hear mostly from city council and residents is they want more options,” said Micah Grau, deputy city manager. “We don’t have an exclusive franchise with Spectrum, if another provider wanted to come out, we would welcome that.”
Although other providers are welcome, setting up the underground work is very costly and difficult, especially in a city that is already developed, said Grau.
Provider issue aside, the biggest hurdle cities face comes from the Texas Utility Code, Section 54, which prohibits a city from providing a telecommunication service; in this case it would be broadband. If council’s proposal to change this code passes, it would allow the city to move forward with creating its own broadband or do a public partnership with other providers.
The city of Buda cannot have this section overturned and modified on its own, which is why Texas Solutions Group is seeking interest groups who want to see the competition in the market open up.
“I think we would need to have [Section 54] overturned to have a partnership with another company,” Grau told the Hays Free Press. “That section even prohibits us to partner with another provider.”
COVID-19 has proved to people, now more than ever, that a strong internet connection is necessary. With so many people working from home and students attending school online, the importance of fast internet has become more prevalent, Grau said.
Moving forward, post-pandemic, Grau and council members foresee a bigger shift to remote work for employees and students which will cause a need for high-speed internet -- a big reason the city is pushing for change.
