Yesterday we participated in Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s Texas Broadband Listening Tour on the UTEP campus. This tour will help guide the strategic vision of Texas’ new Broadband Development Office (BDO) by listening to Texans’ insights about internet access and collecting input to develop the state’s first broadband plan.

We were happy to take part in yesterday’s event! We are currently working with a number of partners in Borderplex Connect, a coalition whose mission it is to support and provide access to broadband internet, including without limitation internet services, access to devices, and digital skills training in the rural and/or underserved, economically challenged areas of Far West Texas and Southern New Mexico.

“Providing equitable, reliable access to internet is as important as any utility. Robust internet really means access to education, primary healthcare, better job opportunities, financial systems, and all of society,” said Eric Pearson, president and CEO of the El Paso Community Foundation. “This is some of the most important work the El Paso Community Foundation can do right now.”