HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, September 25, 2006
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Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, residents of Chambers County and Baytown, in my Congressional
district, who currently lack high-speed
internet access, will soon be able to obtain an
extremely reliable high-speed internet service
comparably priced to DSL. This is due to the
efforts of a consortium consisting of Lee College,
Chambers County, Chambers Liberty
Counties Navigation District, East Chambers
Independent School District, and Trinity Bay
Conservation District.
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The consortium began working on the project in 2000, after the Telecommunications
Infrastructure Fund board authorized Community
Network Grants in order to fund internet
access for undersevered areas. Lee College
applied for a $500,000 grant on behalf of the
consortium. The consortium was one of the
few groups that were awarded the full grant of
$550,000 — the amount applied for plus a 10%
match by the consortium.
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Among the technical challenges fadng the consortium was constructing four 150-foot towers,
wiring ten buildings, and coordinating with
the governmental agencies involved. Once
those challenges where resolved, the consortium
faced the challenge of finding a company
to maintain the system. Fortunately, the consortium
was able to contract with TeleShare
Communications Services.
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TeleShare was looking for opportunities to expand, and, according to Mark Ocker, Tele-
Shares president, . . . the opportunity to use
an existing network by partnering with Chambers
County and Lee College came up, and it
proved to be a great match for both TeleShare
and the consortium.
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I am pleased to take this opportunity to extend my congratulations and thanks to Lee
College and all the members of the consortium
for their efforts to improve the lives of the
residents of Chambers County and Baytown.