HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — New data shows thousands of Harris County residents still don’t have access to high-speed internet, but county leaders say they’re trying to bridge the digital divide.
Thousands are expected to pack parts of Houston next summer as the city is slated to host seven FIFA World Cup matches.
“We want them to have a contemporary experience, especially with their connectivity,” Harris County Pct. 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said
To do that, Garcia says the digital divide in the county needs to be fixed.
According to the non-profit US Ignite, 171,000 households don’t have reliable internet, which is mainly in the eastern portion of Harris County.
“Precincts 1 and 2 in Harris County account for more than 60% of the unconnected or the under-connected households,” Lee Davenport, Director of Community Development with U.S. Ignite, said.
“In the event of any emergency, we want to make sure our first responders have no problem communicating, sharing any public information, and the community has no problem with that. That aspect of preparation, given my law enforcement background, has been a role I’m serving with the host committee on the World Cup,” Garcia said.
Garcia says the World Cup coming to Houston is one major reason why the county commissioners unanimously voted in favor of assembling a broadband task force.
“This has been a priority since the beginning of the pandemic because that’s when we absolutely recognized just how significant it was. It’s been a priority since then. It’s unfortunate that the funding we were hopeful to get isn’t there.
The task force will use what’s called a broadband roadmap developed by U.S. Ignite to help with strategies to close the digital divide.
“That task force should report back its understanding of a prioritization of areas of infrastructure, partnerships, and digital opportunity,” Davenport said.
Garcia said he doesn’t know how this will be funded, but the roadmap summary says the county will look into both public and private funding.
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