Roughly $1 billion in federal money is bringing high-speed internet to Deep East Texas. A new coalition has formed to teach people to use it and to build local jobs around it.
The Deep East Texas Council of Governments has launched the Pineywoods Broadband Coalition, according to a 27 October report by Jess Huff of The Texas Tribune. The council’s board approved it at an October meeting. The board includes city council members and county judges from 11 counties. The coalition’s job is technology education and workforce development, so the region can use the broadband that federal funds are bringing in.
It will work on three fronts. The first is digital navigation and adoption, which means training for people who have never had their own laptop, covering basic skills, telehealth and video chats. The second is coordinating infrastructure and funding, including mapping existing water and gas lines before fiber is dug. The third is economic development and workforce, including jobs such as fiber optic splicers and online certifications.
Connor Sadro, the council’s broadband director, told the Tribune: “Before we started this work, 50% of our region was underserved or unserved with high-speed broadband.” He said closing that gap would put “10,000 jobs” on the table. Lonnie Hunt, the council’s executive director, said more than half of the beneficiaries of the project are low-to-moderate income households.
The first phase of a regional broadband network has begun in Newton County and will eventually reach six counties. It costs about $9 million and is paid for by a $51 million Texas General Land Office grant and a match from the T.L.L. Temple Foundation. Hunt said the first phase should finish by the end of November. Sadro said the remaining $42 million will not be released until the next two phases are bid out.
Why it matters beyond Deep East Texas
Deep East Texas is outside CEEI’s counties, and this is a different region’s plan. It is worth reading because it treats a connection as the start of the work. People who have never owned a laptop need training, the build needs to be coordinated with what is already underground, and the new network creates jobs that someone has to be trained for. The 10,000 jobs figure is Sadro’s statement to the Tribune, not a forecast CEEI has checked, and CEEI has not seen the coalition’s plan beyond this report.
Reported by Jess Huff, The Texas Tribune, 27 October 2026. Photo: The Texas Tribune. Summary and commentary by CEEI. CEEI is not affiliated with the Deep East Texas Council of Governments, the Pineywoods Broadband Coalition or The Texas Tribune. The T.L.L. Temple Foundation, which co-funds the first phase, has financially supported The Texas Tribune in the past five years.