WESLACO, Texas - Jordana Barton-Garcia, a senior fellow at Connect Humanity, has taken over as director of the Rio Grande Valley Broadband Coalition.
Previously, Barton-Garcia was co-organizer of the group, along with Manny Cruz, executive director of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council (LRGVDC).
The Rio Grande Valley Broadband Coalitionis a network of local partners working to accelerate digital connectivity and opportunity. Its mission is to expand access to affordable, high-speed internet throughout the region and ensure that all RGV families, nonprofits, and businesses can fully participate in the digital world.
“The Rio Grande Valley Broadband Coalition is a collaborative alliance of local governments, community organizations, internet service providers, educational institutions, businesses, and nonprofits, all united in the mission to expand digital access and adoption throughout South Texas,” Barton-Garcia said.
“In the Rio Grande Valley, only 46 percent of households have a fixed internet subscription. Our coalition is dedicated to closing this digital divide by enabling affordable, reliable, high-speed internet access for all our underserved communities.”
Barton-Garcia added: “Our commitment is to foster a more connected and inclusive future for all residents and businesses in the Rio Grande Valley with enhanced opportunities in education, healthcare, employment, and participation in civic life.”
Behind the scenes, Barton-Garcia has been working to persuade Valley communities to adopt a regional strategy to gain equitable access to federal broadband funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)
It was Barton-Garcia, working through the Rio Grande Valley Broadband Coalition, who persuaded Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., and Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez, to write to state and federal officials urging them not to rely on the Federal Communications Commission’s maps because the two counties have persistent poverty status. If the maps were the sole criteria used, Cameron and Hidalgo counties would miss out on IIJA funding for broadband projects.
Click here to read the letter Judge Treviño sent to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar.
Click here to read the letter Judge Cortez sent to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar.
Barton-Garcia had earlier urged LRGVDC to adopt a regional strategy to gain equitable access to federal broadband funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). In a long letter sent to LRGVDC in January 2023, she recommended:
1) The LRGVDC should file a request with the NTIA to waive reliance on the FCC’s maps due to the counties of the RGV and Texas-Mexico Border region persistent poverty status. They should additionally file for a waiver to NTIA’s “no overbuilding” infrastructure rule in considering the award of broadband grants to the entire Rio Grande Valley region to foster competition and secure the necessary speed and capacity of networks to implement the telehealth objectives for the region and other economic benefits. Further, the NTIA should adapt the grant process applicable to Tribal Lands in targeting broadband investment to the Rio Grande Valley region. Without granting these waivers, the NTIA will not be able to fulfill the mandate from Congress to target “Covered Populations” (including this low-income, Hispanic, and rural area), and give special consideration to persistent poverty regions, such as the Rio Grande Valley/Texas Border region. The LRGVDC may want to engage an experienced administrative law attorney to file such waiver request and follow-up the written filing with face-to-face meetings with appropriate NTIA personnel to press the case for the appropriate treatment of the Rio Grande Valley region as a persistent poverty region. Perhaps a national digital inclusion organization, such as Connect Humanity, can be asked to support the waiver on behalf of the persistent poverty regions.
2) The LRGVDC should file a letter with the FCC and NTIA supporting the extension requested by Texas Comptroller Hegar and share local broadband infrastructure access data. It is equally important to share subscription, community survey, and other data on the digital divide directly with the NTIA, which is the federal agency with the legal mandate to establish the rules to administer broadband funds efficiently and equitably under the IIJA, including the targeting of persistent poverty regions for broadband investment. The RGV can participate in the map challenge even if they are granted a waiver. The new FCC maps—that are presented as the source to understand the digital divide in the country—are important to make as accurate as possible and will take some time. Otherwise, they are smoke and mirrors and perpetuate the inaccuracies in previous FCC Form 477 data/maps. Stakeholders could also communicate with the FCC that they should title the map accurately. A more accurate title of the FCC National Broadband Map could be: “Incumbent ISP Reports on Broadband Infrastructure Availability, Regardless of Type of Infrastructure, Quality of Connection, Actual Subscriptions, or Cost of Service.”
