{"id":66541,"date":"2025-11-26T22:09:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T22:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/66541\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T22:09:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T22:09:07","slug":"43-1m-grant-to-bring-internet-to-unserved-bastrop-county-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/66541\/","title":{"rendered":"$43.1M grant to bring internet to unserved Bastrop County areas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore than 10,000 Bastrop County homes and businesses are being connected to the internet through a $43.1 million grant the <a href=\"https:\/\/comptroller.texas.gov\/programs\/broadband\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Texas Broadband Development Office<\/a> awarded earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>What we know<\/p>\n<p>With construction now underway, Bastrop County officials and representatives from <a href=\"https:\/\/highlinefast.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Highline<\/a>\u2014the provider installing the high-speed fiber internet to previously unserved locations\u2014will celebrate the milestone at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Bastrop County Courthouse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis significant investment cements Bastrop County\u2019s commitment to closing the digital divide,\u201d Adena Lewis, Bastrop County\u2019s director of tourism and economic development, said in a statement. \u201cAccess to reliable, high\u2010speed internet is vital for education, healthcare, business and community well\u2010being.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zooming in <\/p>\n<p>Bastrop County was one of 13 counties to earn grant funding from the Texas Broadband Development Office\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/comptroller.texas.gov\/programs\/broadband\/funding\/boot\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas<\/a>, or BOOT II, program.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis credited several key players for their ongoing commitment to closing the digital divide in Bastrop County, including:<\/p>\n<p>Bastrop County Commissioners CourtBastrop County CaresSt. David\u2019s FoundationCommunities UnlimitedLower Colorado River AuthorityConnected NationBastrop County Economic Development Organization\u201cThis total investment isn\u2019t just about internet service\u2014it\u2019s about opportunity,\u201d Bastrop County Precinct 4 Commissioner David Glass said. \u201cExpanding broadband countywide will ensure our students can learn, our businesses can grow and our residents can stay connected in an increasingly digital world. Bastrop County is ready to move forward, and this grant makes that possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The outlook <\/p>\n<p>Lewis added that installations of the high-speed fiber internet are expected to be completed in late 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUpon completion, Bastrop County residents and businesses will enjoy enhanced broadband options at affordable rates\u2014unlocking opportunities in telehealth, remote learning, small business growth, civic engagement and beyond,\u201d she said in a news release.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&gt;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 10,000 Bastrop County homes and businesses are being connected to the internet through a $43.1 million&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[34412,132,134,133,4696,34414,34415,32028,34413,17340,1758,32032],"class_list":["post-66541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-adena-lewis","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-bastrop-county","tag-boot-ii","tag-bringing-online-opportunities-to-texas","tag-broadband","tag-david-glass","tag-fiber","tag-internet","tag-texas-broadband-development-office"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}