Levelland approves 500 Mbps Learn Network connection, interlocal agreements with South Plains partners

The Levelland City Council authorized the city manager to sign a master service agreement with the Lone Star Education and Research Network and related network and interlocal agreements with South Plains Telephone Cooperative (doing business as Horizon Communications) and South Plains College.

Staff said the arrangement will upgrade the city’s Internet service from about 50 megabits per second to 500 Mbps on a connection built to a 10 Gbps port, with the option to increase to 1 Gbps by phone order. The new service was presented as both faster and cheaper: staff noted current charges of roughly $3,954 per month versus an anticipated roughly $1,400 per month under the Learn connection.

Implementation will use a fiber route from the Lubbock Learn connection through South Plains Telephone Cooperative fiber and then onto South Plains College’s campus, plus short-range wireless links to two city facilities (fire station and law-enforcement center) for redundancy. Staff estimated 3–4 months of build time once agreements and work orders are in place. The council approved the five-year network service agreement and the supporting interlocal agreements; motions passed by voice vote.

Council members and staff said the upgrade should improve operational reliability for city public-safety and administration systems and free city demand from competing with local customers for bandwidth. The city will continue discussions with South Plains College and Horizon Communications on scheduling and technical cutovers; staff will return with a project schedule and payment timeline.