Texas County is entering new territory in the digital world that promises more speed and options for obtaining telecommunication services.
The latest offering? Wireless, high-speed Internet service that promises to give computer users faster access to those previously who were tethered to their computer by a slow dial-up method. Texas County Rural Area Information – TRAIN – is offering the wireless Internet service after the installation of an antenna atop a City of Houston water tower. Farrell Christeson, who oversees the not-for-profit Internet service, said the wireless method has a sight range of about 45 miles, but realistically users in the Houston and surrounding area will have first crack at it until other antennas are erected in the county. Christeson estimates the range at about five to six miles. However, the technology is new, and TRAIN is still learning its limitations, he said.
TRAIN first brought dial-up Internet service to Texas County in 1997 through a state grant aimed at targeting areas that didn’t have access to the Internet or had to incur long-distance telephone costs to access it. Since that time, other providers have entered the market, but this in first venture into wireless Internet.
Christeson said the speed is comparable to that of DSL service, but faster than those provided by satellite. The cost is $250 for installation and a $30 a month fee. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Here’s how it works: Radio equipment smaller than a pack of cigarettes with a cereal bowl-looking device is mounted to the home or business. A wire leads into the house from the gizmo and that cable plugs in directly into a computer or a device called a router that allows several computers within the structure to gain access to the Internet.
Christeson said on a recent day in the Bucyrus area he was able to connect wirelessly from his vehicle.
TRAIN’s venture is the first of two projects that will change the way Texas County residents access the Internet. The second was made possible through a USDA $727,288 grant that will link every home and business in the Raymondville area with state-of-the-art fiber optical wiring. Christeson said the project is unique for a rural area. Last fall, TRAIN obtained the funds to bring broadband service – extremely fast connections – to Raymondville. It was among 19 awarded in the country. Lisa Ruller of Top of the Ozarks Resource Conservation and Development wrote the grant, one of 118 submitted.
Ultimately, a variety of services may be piped into the home using the technology – ranging from television viewing to telephone calls using voice transmissions over the Internet. TRAIN is working with Intercounty Electric Cooperative in Licking on the project, which involves stringing the fiber on the firm’s electrical poles. Christeson said the project would not have happened without Intercounty’s assistance and support. All of the fiber will be built out by Intercounty.
Raymondville’s city hall is undergoing some remodeling to accommodate equipment for the project.
Christeson said by late June the service should be operational