Chamber Response to New Telephone Cable System

AT&T, Verizon complete Cable Project for Weslaco

WESLACO AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE RESPONDS

                                                                     
WESLACO, TX -   Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. and State Representative Armando "Mando" Martinez, along with other officials from the city, county and state were on hand to announce the completion of a new telephone cable system for the City of Weslaco.

Verizon and AT&T worked together to create the new system that will ensure local residents and businesses keep their phone service in the event of future cable cuts in the area.  Under the new system, if a telephone line is cut, all 9-1-1 calls will be re-routed to other lines.  It will also allow the citizens of Weslaco to continue to make emergency, as well as other calls.

“Thanks to everyone working together, we now have additional, back-up facilities to ensure that the phones will keep working even if there are more cable cuts,” said Lucio.  “It was a public safety issue and also an economic development issue,” he added.  He commended all the entities for working together to resolve the problem.  The coordination and cooperation between AT&T and Verizon was critical to the success of this project.

Representative Martinez said they have been working on the project for well over a year now.  “This is a tremendous day for the City of Weslaco,” he stated. “In the past, whenever a construction or utility crew inadvertently cut a Weslaco telephone line, all service went out, including emergency calls.  Now, residents will be able to make calls whenever necessary.”

The Weslaco Area Chamber of Commerce supported all the officials in making this a priority.  A good communication system is paramount to conduct business and not having continual service was detrimental to Weslaco businesses in times of outages.  Martha Noell, President/CEO of the Weslaco Area Chamber of Commerce said the chamber conducted a survey among its membership and the response was resounding with over $50,000 in losses from the 23 businesses who responded.  “This fix is welcome news to the businesses of Weslaco.  It is one less thing to worry about in their day to day operations,” commented Noell.

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The Weslaco Chamber of Commerce works for the development and voice of business success in Weslaco by providing opportunities for all businesses and individuals who invest in the community.