Council agrees on fiber optic service installation across Pearsall

By Breyana Segura - Chief Staff Writer | June 25, 2025

Although leery of potential service interruptions during the installation of infrastructure, Pearsall councilors have given the green light for a fiber optic project that will provide cutting-edge internet service to citizens.
Councilors approved a rental lease agreement with Vero Fiber Networks LLC, a company focused on providing fiber optic internet services, during a Tuesday, June 10, meeting.
The company will lease approximately 300 square feet of property at the service center along Business IH-35 to install a telecommunications box and a backup generator, according to Grant Chappel, a representative from Vero Fiber Networks.
“The facility will serve the entire community,” Chappel said. “It will be 170,000 feet of fiber optic lines. We are fiber-to-home, not wireless. We offer speeds up to 2.3 gigabytes per household.”
According to the representative, the company was founded in 2017 with a focus on providing internet services for school districts. Since then, the company has expanded into three companies, one of which provides fiber optic internet services to residential homes.
Chappel said the company is community-centered, offering discounts to first responders and noting sponsorship of a canine in another community that Vero Fiber serves.
The Vero’s Heroes Program allows all first responders to receive a sizable discount on home internet services.
“We recognize those are extremely important positions and offer discounted rate programs for first responders, including teachers.” Chappel said.
According to the representative, construction is slated to begin by the end of June. Chappel anticipates that 60,000 feet of the fiber optic cable will be buried, the remainder attached to existing electrical poles.
Company representatives assured the council and city administration they are working closely with AEP and TxDOT to ensure proper permitting is secured.
Pearsall Mayor Ben Briscoe questioned Chappel regarding the construction company that would be performing the infrastructure work.
“Does Vero have their own construction crew?” Briscoe asked the representative due to alleged mishaps with other fiber optic companies hiring subcontractors in other communities.
“It is my understanding the legislature has allowed these fiber companies to come in and use our right-of-ways, so we are going to mark them, but of course they are occupied by our water, gas, and sewer lines,” Briscoe said. “Vero might not be the only company to come in; there may be other companies to come in. And so, we want to be a great community partner and we want to work with you but we want to know if there are any disruptions that you guys are ‘Johnny on the Spot’ and will respond to our needs because it is our infrastructure. The other thing that is concerning is that if we do get three or four competitors in here, it’s high speed internet, it is exciting, but they are going to put their line in there, it is something we have to work around. It is really nothing we can control.”
Senate Bill 1121 was passed during the 89th Texas Legislature on March 24 and signed by the governor on May 28. The bill amends Section 191.0525(e) of the Texas Natural Resources Code and now exempts certain fiber-optic cable projects from existing archaeological notification requirements when conducted on state or local public land.
“I am not going to stand here and tell you something is not going to go wrong,” the representative said of the right-of-way agreement. “In this industry that we are in, it is bound to happen. We follow every standard that there is when it comes to construction. But will somebody be available? Absolutely.”