For many living in rural Hidalgo County colonias, access to internet is not a luxury — it’s a necessity 

“Even though Covid is over, the internet continues being part of our lives,” rural Edinburg resident Maria Arias said.

In 2021, Hidalgo County began offering free Wi-Fi to rural areas. On Sept. 16, Channel 5 News reported that the county will end the service by the end of 2025 due to a lack of funding.

READ MORE: Hidalgo County ending free Wi-Fi service for rural areas

For Arias, the service was how her children were able to do their school work. It’s why she joined members of the non-profit organization La Union del Pueblo Entero to protest the end of the service during a Tuesday meeting with the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court. 

“Unfortunately… we don’t have the authority to provide internet services,” Hidalgo County Precinct 2 Commissioner Eduardo “Eddie” Cantu told the LUPE members during the meeting.

The service connected 130 colonias in Hidalgo County to the internet. 

Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez previously said the service was funded by a Covid-era program that has since ended.

“The pandemic has now ended, the funding that once was available is also ended,” Cortez said. “So now, in order for us to sustain it, we would have to use taxpayer funds.”

LUPE Executive Director Tania Chavez said she wasn’t satisfied with that explanation.

“We had four years to put together a plan of action,” Chavez said. “If we knew that that was not a right that they had, then they could’ve worked with us from a long time ago to ensure that today didn’t happen.”

The organization is now urging commissioners to take part in a feasibility study. 

“There are many folks in the rural communities that can’t even contact the [internet] provider because the optic fiber doesn’t reach them,” Chavez said. “So we want to make sure to identify what the gaps are and that we also work with our elected officials to ensure that we draw funds to the community.”

Channel 5 News reached out to Hidalgo County’s public affairs office, and was told that the county is limited in what they can do.

The office said people who need free Wi-Fi access can go to the community resource centers located in each precinct, or use public libraries. 

Arias said she and others will continue to fight for digital access for everyone 

Watch the video above for the full story.