We’re delighted to congratulate RGV Broadband Coalition member, the City of Brownsville, for securing $21.9 million from the Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO). Mayor John Cowen, CIO Jorge Cardenas, and the team at the City of Brownsville showed great vision and persistence to bring this award to Cameron County, securing the second-largest grant under the state’s Texas Middle Mile Program, and demonstrating a model for how strategic middle-mile investments can advance opportunity across the region. 

The award will fund 131 miles of underground, redundant fiber that will more than double Brownsville’s existing fiber rings and extend the network to Russell Town, San Benito, and the Port of Brownsville.

As Jorge Cardenas put it to the RGG Business Journal, this is “an investment in education, economic growth, public safety, and opportunity for every resident.”

For small businesses that still can’t run reliable card-payments and online services, it will be a game-changer for operations. For families who have struggled for years with substandard service, the investment can help enable faster, more affordable home broadband through expanded access for providers. For clinics and medical facilities, it means reliable high-capacity networks that make telehealth possible. And it also means jobs for Cameron County, with Brownsville anticipating employing 65–80 local workers at any given time during construction.

This project embodies the progress that the Rio Grande Valley Broadband Coalition exists to make possible and will help advance the coalition’s regional Broadband and Digital Opportunity Plan. The plan, shaped by 50+ coalition members, aims to expand affordable last-mile service, telehealth, small business digitalization, and a broadband workforce for the region. With middle-mile fiber as a prerequisite technology, Brownsville’s project advances each of these priorities.

When one of our members secures a win like this — and we were proud to write a letter of support — the whole RGV moves forward. Better infrastructure here is a draw for businesses and investment. Better jobs in Cameron County means opportunities for our young people to stay in the region and thrive. And better redundancy in Brownsville means a more resilient network for everyone connected to it.

To Mayor Cowen, Jorge, and everyone at the City of Brownsville, we have so much to celebrate in the RGV. ¡Felicidades!