Woodlands County is hoping to get into the high speed Internet business, or at least part of its infrastructure.
As part of its Internet services strategy, Woodlands County is looking into the possibility of installing large radio communication type towers, in an effort to attract high speed Internet and cell phone service providers into the area.
Jim Rennie, Woodlands County Mayor, said for more than two years the county has been investigating ways it can help its residents get better cellular and Internet coverage.
Because of population density or challenging terrain, Rennie said, there are small pockets where Internet and cellular phone coverage is poor or non-existent.
In an effort to help eliminate those pockets, Woodlands County has teamed up with other rural county municipalities in the area to apply for a cost sharing grant with the federal government.
“It really has to be a joint effort. We do not have the money to take on this project by ourselves. In this year’s budget we only have enough money to put up 50 per cent of the towers.”
Once the towers are installed the county would then look for Internet service providers, cellular providers and other commercial companies to rent space on the towers, providing area residents with access to affordable Internet.
“Fundamentally, I am not sure that municipalities should play a part in offering Internet, but at the same time we know it is not fair for residents to go without the service because providers have said there is not enough people there to make it worth their while,” Rennie said.
If the county is successful in receiving the federal government grant, Rennie hopes the installation of the towers would begin in mid to late 2015 with service providers providing Internet and other services by 2016.
