Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio’s newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
Bexar County teamed up with Spectrum to expand their fiber broadband network to over 12,000 homes in areas that previously lacked dependable internet connectivity.
This includes rural and suburban communities in Von Ormy, St. Hedwig, Converse, Somerset, Atascosa, Adkins, Sandy Oaks, Macdona, Helotes, Schertz, Cibolo, and Selma. Spectrum offers gigabit internet, mobile, television and voice services.
In November 2023, the county approved allocating $25 million dollars with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, also known as APRA. Cities and counties across the country have until the end of 2026 to spend COVID-era APRA money before needing to return it to the federal government.
However, of that $25 million, the county only used $11.8 million because of Spectrum’s own investment of $46.6 million
A press conference was held at the Bibliotech South, Bexar County’s all-digital public library.
Ivanna Bass Caldera
/
TPR
Press conference speakers at Bibliotech South
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai shares what this project means for Bexar County.
“Well, this is truly a groundbreaking event, of the completion of a project, a major project that includes public safety to protect our most vulnerable, our seniors, our disabled, our veterans and working families. It’s also an issue of public health, of having connectivity health to our medical services for those that live in the unincorporated areas,” Sakai said.
Ivanna Bass Caldera
/
TPR
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai speaking at the press conference
Spectrum has a multi-year rural construction initiative of their own, driven by over $7 billion of their private investment with the goal of adding over 100,000 miles of fiber network infrastructure to more than 1.7 million new locations in the country.
Area Vice President for Spectrum’s field operations Paul Arredondo said that Spectrum offers a variety of price ranges depending on the level of service needed by the consumer. And that the communities in Bexar County that are gaining access to the internet can contact Spectrum’s sales associates to learn about the different plans that fit their needs.
Ivanna Bass Caldera
/
TPR
Area Vice President for Spectrum’s Field Operations Paul Arredondo speaking at the press conference
“We recognize the importance of internet, allowing our kids to learn from home, allowing our communities to work from home should the need arise,” Arredondo said. “We want to continue to help expand for small businesses, for them to continue to grow as well in the communities that we serve.”
Laura Cole, the director of Bibliotech, says this has been a priority for the county since they also invested in the educational sector by hiring six digital navigators to provide digital literacy classes throughout the county.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert added that precinct 4 has partnered Compudopt to repurpose computers for areas with a digital divide. With this partnership, Calvert said 800 laptops are being provided to areas ranging from Southside ISD to Judson ISD.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores mentioned the importance of this initiative since COVID exposed the digital inequities presented in rural and some suburban areas in Bexar County.
“It’s really important because this part of town has been neglected and left behind, and once COVID hit, then people could no longer ignore that, because it was like the reality of it, in terms of students, in terms of seniors, everyone needing Internet access during covid because everything was shut down,” Clay-Flores said.
This initiative was split up into two phases. The first phase was completed in March 2025, and phase two continues the expansion into other parts of the county; providing access to high-speed internet to parts of the county that currently do not have access.