MCALLEN. Texas – Attorney Gabriel Garcia is a director and senior counsel for CPS Energy in San Antonio. He is also vice president of the Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers & Advisors, otherwise known as TATOA.
TATOA recently held its 26th annual conference and awards ceremony at the McAllen Convention Center. The motto of the conference was “Ignite, Inspire, Imagine.”
At the conference, Garcia spoke about and moderated panel discussions on broadband infrastructure. Afterwards, he gave an exclusive interview to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service on the subject. In the interview, Garcia encouraged cities in the Rio Grande Valley to develop broadband infrastructure. He said that in today’s digital age, the future of their economies depend upon it.
“It is about the future of our economy. If we do not have a fair distribution of broadband infrastructure… you can see a future where cities that have broadband infrastructure, let’s say San Francisco, Silicon Valley, in Texas, Austin, Texas, that is where the new companies of the new economy are going to grow. And then cities that don’t have broadband infrastructure, well, those cities are not going to see that type of economic development,” Garcia said.
“So what is at stake is the future of our economy because fiber infrastructure is the foundation for 5G wireless networks. 5G wireless networks then enable the Internet of Things. The Internet of Things enables Big Data. And Big Data enables Artificial Intelligence.”
Here is the video interview with Gabriel Garcia:
Video
Editor’s Note: The above video news story is the first in a three-part series based on a recent conference held by the Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers & Advisors at the McAllen Convention Center. Part Two, focusing on Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation’s efforts to eliminate the digital divide, will appear in our next edition.
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