Bigger and better connections

_{Brownsville Mayor John Cowen stands next to Andrew Massey, chief financial officer of Lit Communities, during the ribbon-cutting ceremony March 27 for the Lit Fiber-BTX demo center, located at 744 E. Levee St. Alfredo Garcia Jr./THE RIDER} 

On Wednesday, the City of Brownsville hosted the ribbon-cutting and grand opening of the Lit Fiber-BTX demo center, located at 744 E. Levee St. 

Lit Fiber is a national company working with municipalities and local governments to build infrastructure needed to deliver the highest levels of future-proof connectivity to communities across the United States, according to its website. 

As part of BTX Fiber Network & Cybersecurity Week, the city hosted a series of educational and informational seminars for the community on Tuesday and Thursday.

The ribbon-cutting and grand opening included a panel discussion about the improvements Brownsville residents and businesses will receive with the new internet service. 

The panel was composed of Mark V. Dombroski, assistant general manager and chief operating officer for Brownsville Public Utilities Board; Jorge Cardenas, director of Information Technology for the City of Brownsville; Rica Nakazawa, group vice president of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Data Corporation; and Lindsay Miller, chief business officer for Lit Fiber. 

Miller said the purpose of the demo center is to house employees and offer training opportunities for customers. 

“And then, we also, as you can tell by the space and how it’s structured, we have the opportunity to hold events here that can also, in addition to education, be more social and gather the local community and our partnership with the city,” she said. 

Brownsville Mayor John Cowen said the project is operated by Lit Communities and the partnership between the city and Lit Fiber, called “BTX Fiber,” started four years ago.

“We identified that Brownsville was the least connected city in the United States when it comes to fiber internet connectivity,” Cowen said. “And so, we’ve developed a partnership with Lit Communities to analyze how we can close that gap.” 

The mayor said the project will allow residents and businesses to have “high speed, affordable, internet service to the community.” 

_{Businesses, organizations and residents will be able to purchase service from Lit Fiber with packages “available from $30 to $90 a month, depending on the customer’s needs,” according to a March 15 City of Brownsville news release. Alfredo Garcia Jr./THE RIDER} 

Businesses, organizations and residents will be able to purchase service from Lit Fiber with packages “available from $30 to $90 a month, depending on the customer’s needs,” according to a March 15 City of Brownsville news release. For more information on Lit Fiber and to join the waitlist, visit lit-fiber.com/my/btx.

Cowen said the city contributed $20 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to building the middle mile. 

A middle mile is “the mid-section of Internet infrastructure that carries large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances,” according to BroadbandUSA.gov. 

“Lit Fiber and Lit Communities will build out the last mile, the final mile from the middle mile to the residents or the business,” he said. “So, they’ll be the ones providing the services.” 

Guillermo Guevara, a resident of the Rio de Sol subdivision in Brownsville, said the partnership between Lit Fiber and the city is “a great idea.”

“I really like the fact that we’re laying down the infrastructure for fiber-optic cabling,” Guevara said. “That’s going to add a lot of opportunities to expand our services regarding technology, you know, the bandwidth we need and the wide access across the city, it’s also lacking. So I’m happy for it.” 

He expects to see changes in businesses stepping up in the technology area to “capitalize” on fiber connectivity. 

The internet service provided by Lit Fiber will be available to 32-anchor institutions, according to the City of Brownsville news release.

Some institutions included in the release are: the “Brownsville Police Department, city fire stations, U.S. Post Offices, city and public utility offices, including public parks.” 

The Rider asked about future expectations the community can have for this partnership. 

Cowen replied the next step is to market the service and show how it can impact people. 

“I think for our low-income families, there are federal programs that will essentially pay for the service for free,” he said. “So there’s a rebate, I believe it’s up to $30, which is, I think, the lowest cost service that this service will provide.”

The demo center started being built in December 2023 and will be open to the public in May, according to Lindsay Whitehurst, chief marketing officer at Lit Fiber.