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PHARR, Texas - Victor Perez, executive director of Pharr Economic Development Corporation, says his work recruiting new businesses to Pharr is about to get a whole lot easier.

The reason? TeamPharr.Net, the City of Pharr\u2019s much-lauded fiber-optic cable broadband internet network service.\xa0

The network will provide an internet speed of 1 gigabyte, which Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez says is 100 times faster than anything being offered in the Rio Grande Valley right now. The plan includes the installation of 2.1 million feet, or 398 miles of fiber-optic cable.

\u201cCan you imagine what this means for the businesses in Pharr?\u201d Said Perez. \u201cTake, for example, Starbucks, They provide wifi to their clients, their customers. When you have one gigabyte, they can say, it does not matter how many people hook up to our wifi we are going to have the capacity to hold a lot more people than they do now.\u201d

Asked how the service will impact Pharr EDC\u2019s efforts to lure new businesses to the city, Perez said: \u201cWhen you offer that, one gigabyte, it is going to be a big plus. I am excited. It is another incentive for the business community to come in and say, you know what, I want to come into Pharr. This fiber-optic is going to be a huge thing for our city and our community.\u201d

Perez said a lot of credit must go to Mayor Hernandez. \u201cThe mayor made this a priority back in 2015. His vision and hard work is paying dividends.\u201d

Mayor Hernandez said at the news conference: \u201cFor too long, Pharr families have lacked access to one of the now basic and necessary utilities in life \u2013 affordable, high-speed broadband Internet. These days, the internet is our lifeline; It connects us to the everyday world, it keeps us teaching and learning through virtual means, and it gives us access to opportunities that are beyond our normal reach.\u201d

Hernandez said the City of Pharr will install 2.1 million feet, or 398 miles of fiber-optic cable to 24,000 residential and business accounts, with the network providing an internet speed of 1 gigabyte.

Special guests and dignitaries providing remarks during the announcement included Texas state Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr., Texas Workforce Commissioner Julian Alvarez, Jordana Barton, vice-president of community investments for Methodist Healthcare Ministries, Dr. Eduardo Cancino, interim executive director for Region One Education Service Center, Dr. Narciso Garcia, superintendent of Vanguard Academy, Xavier Salinas, superintendent of Hidalgo ISD, Sylvia Ibarra, interim superintendent of Valley View ISD, Eddie Anaya, a leader of Valley Interfaith who lives in Las Milpas, and Marco Lopez, community organizer for internet access with community group La Uni\xf3n Del Pueblo Entero.

This podcast features the news conference.

Editor's Note: Click here to read the remarks of Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez and here to read the remarks of Jordana Barton, vice-president of community investments for Methodist Healthcare Ministries.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.