MINEOLA, Texas — Mineola residents are going to have to wait a little longer for faster internet access. The city council along with the Mineola Economic Development Corporation postponed a partnership with Peoples Telephone Cooperative on Monday night.
Factors like cost, coverage area and timeline of completion for when residents in Mineola could see fiber internet all played a role in postponing this partnership.
The Peoples Telephone Cooperative, based out of Quitman, reached out to the city of Mineola for a partnership that would expand broadband internet for residents.
"Partnering with these cities is just finding a way to accelerate, get vital infrastructure into the ground, closing the digital divide and being able to provide high reliability and high speed affordable services to residents and businesses alive," Peoples Telephone Cooperative Chief Business Development Officer Jason Slagle said.
In a presentation to the city council Monday night, Slagle said this project would cost about $3.1 to $3.2 million to complete. The city of Mineola would pay about 25 to 30% of that cost in payments over the years.
Slagle was questioned by Mineola City Manager Mercy Rushing, whether this project could be done all in one sweep. Slagle responded that the project would be done in seven phases within the city limits adding it could take anywhere from 18 to 24 months to complete.
Regardless, city officials are excited to turn the page on a new digital era for the city. They see this as an opportunity for people to stay in Mineola and work from home.
"We're seeing a lot of commerce take place online. We are seeing a lot of advertisement take place online. A lot of people are working from home. Zoom meetings and all that stuff has started to take over and fiber offers that kind of technology well into the future. We can stay connected better than we do right now," Mineola Economic Development Corp. Assistant Director Owen Tiner said.
Peoples Telephone Cooperative has done similar projects with other cities across Northeast Texas.
"They're building out these fiber networks for these towns. We see technology and these guys know technology 20 to 30 years out in the future and fiber is the way to go with that," Tiner said.
All of this is in effort to boost internet speeds for residents with gigabit internet. This partnership would not only bring faster internet, but it would also offer Mineola residents another option for an internet provider.
According to the Mineola city officials, residents and businesses only have access to one cable internet provider.
The partnership was tabled for next month's city council meeting. At a later meeting, it will be decided if city officials and the cooperative can get the ball rolling on this project.
In the meantime, both parties -- along with the economic development corporation -- will iron out the details of this partnership in future workshops.