Texas Tech University Signs Agreement to 
Build Network to Improve Internet Access to Rural Areas

    Texas Tech University, on behalf of The Texas Tech University Office of Economic Development, has signed a partnership agreement with AMA•TechTel Communications to build and maintain a wireless broadband telecommunications backbone stretching from Amarillo to Hobbs, N.M.

    The backbone will provide access to high-speed telecommunications to the rural communities along its route. The principal application for the backbone will be as a wide-area-network for delivery of content to be used in small business development, work force training and other adult and K-12 educational programs.

    "Our partnership with AMA•TechTel is a vital element in deploying our wireless backbone across West Texas," said Robert P. McComb, Ph.D., Texas Tech assistant vice president for economic development. "Once the wide-area-network is in place, high schools, community colleges, small businesses and many other agencies and individuals will have new, lower-cost opportunities for interaction and access to additional resources for education and economic development."

    AMA•TechTel has agreed to design, build, manage and maintain the wireless backbone equipment. While the Amarillo-based company will use some of its existing infrastructure for deployment, the TTU project will also require acquisition of additional easements on structures and towers for mounting radio equipment.

    "We are extremely excited about being chosen as the partner for the Texas Tech Wireless Communication Infrastructure. AMA•TechTel believes that this partnership is just the beginning of assisting Texas Tech University in building stronger communities, promoting business development, enhancing education and encouragement of community growth with broadband as a tool to further assist in the health and vibrancy of the region," said Douglas Campbell, vice president for business development for AMA•TechTel.

    Texas Tech received a $724,000 grant from the Economic Development Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce to fund the backbone.

    "Two critical issues for business development in rural Texas are access to broadband telecommunications and access to business support services," said McComb.

    "The backbone we’re building will allow for locally available business counseling, or customized workforce training and other educational opportunities for businesses that would not be able to afford to send employees to Lubbock or elsewhere for an extended period of time. The backbone also will provide improved e-commerce opportunities for small businesses and expand adult education opportunities."

    McComb says the network is another way that Texas Tech can extend its resources to communities in Texas. "Texas Tech is committed to promoting partnerships that will benefit the people of Texas. Our mission is to work with communities in identifying Texas Tech resources that can support them in their economic development efforts. For example, the Texas Tech Small Business Development Center can assist in the start-up of new businesses in rural West Texas and help existing businesses grow. With the help of AMA•TechTel, the wireless Internet backbone can be put into place and these new partnerships can become reality."

    There are also agricultural applications for the new network. McComb says with high speed Internet, farmers and ranchers can better access commodity and educational information that is on the Internet, as well as take advantage of applications to production. Innovative applications of wireless telecommunications to production agriculture are emerging that will be very attractive to the extensive farming and ranching operations in our region, he noted.

    The backbone could be expanded in the future to cover most of the West Texas/Eastern New Mexico region. "Viewed as a wide-area-network, this deployment will enable us to communicate among ourselves at very high bandwidth and very low cost, without actually having to connect to the fiber Internet," McComb said.

By Robert Hoskins

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