Bastrop County, Texas · fiber to the home
After years of slow DSL, satellite and patchy fixed wireless, Bastrop County secured a $43.1 million grant to wire more than 10,000 unserved homes and businesses with fiber. Highline is the company in the ground building it — finishing in late 2026.
The line, milepost by milepost
This isn't a rumor or a "coming soon" banner. It's a funded public build with a paper trail. Here's the sequence that put fiber on the map for the county's rural addresses.
Highline acquired the Smithville / Bastrop County operation of Rural Telecommunications of America (RTA), along with fiber assets in Bastrop, Fayette and Lavaca counties — including the Bastrop County BOOT II project. Existing RTA customers were told their service would continue without disruption.
Bastrop County confirmed a $43.1 million award from the Texas Broadband Development Office — paired with roughly $11 million from Highline — to reach more than 10,000 previously unserved homes and businesses. More than 4,700 county residents had reported little or no internet access. Bastrop was one of 13 counties funded in the state's BOOT II ("Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas") round.
County officials marked the investment at the Bastrop County Courthouse. "This significant investment cements Bastrop County's commitment to closing the digital divide," said Adena Lewis, Director of Tourism & Economic Development.
Construction is underway across the county's unserved areas. Fiber is pulled along the right-of-way, spliced at each neighborhood, then dropped to the home. Crews work region by region, so your street's timing depends on where it sits in the build plan.
The grant-funded build is expected to finish in late 2026. Every Texas BOOT II project carries a hard deadline of December 31, 2026, so this is a dated commitment, not an open-ended promise.
Sources: Community Impact (Nov 26, 2025); Highline press releases (Oct 8, 2025); Texas Broadband Development Office BOOT II program.
What you can actually get
That's the part cable and satellite can't touch. Every Highline tier sends data up as fast as it pulls it down — the difference you feel on video calls, cloud backups, security cameras and game uploads. All plans include a WiFi 7 router, unlimited data, no annual contract, and a 3-year price lock.
Install $99 (white-glove) · SmartCare service plan $8/mo · outdoor Wi-Fi extender $7.50/mo · landline voice available. Local reporting on the Bastrop build cites plans starting around $39/mo for 100 Mbps and running up to 2 Gig; Highline confirms your exact monthly price once your address is verified as serviceable. Get your address quote →
Who's holding the shovel
It's fair to ask who's behind the fiber going in the ground. Highline isn't a startup that appeared with the grant — it's a rural-focused fiber builder with a long telephone-company lineage and a track record across six states.
Highline (officially Highline Fast Internet) builds and operates fiber-to-the-home networks in small and rural communities across Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska and Texas. It's a brand of ITC Broadband Holdings, whose roots run back to Interstate Telephone Company, founded in West Point, Georgia in 1896.
Its model is twofold: build new 10G-capable fiber where no one else will, and acquire established small-town providers to operate them better. That's exactly how it arrived here — by taking over RTA's Smithville operation in October 2025 and stepping in as the builder on Bastrop County's grant-funded network.
Highline runs Bastrop County from the former RTA office at 125 Kellar Rd, Unit C-2, Smithville, TX 78957. Local crews, local hands.
Smithville office: 512-360-4273
Highline sales: 1-888-212-0054
The honest take
We're an independent guide, so here's the straight version — the good and the watch-outs. Short answer: customers tend to like the product once it's in; the friction is in the getting connected.
Real symmetrical fiber speeds that match the marketing, reliable once connected, professional install techs, and consumer-friendly terms — no contracts, no data caps, no credit check. Highline also won a reader-voted "Best ISP" award in its Michigan home market (Delta County, 2024). On paper it runs circles around the DSL, satellite and fixed wireless it's replacing in rural Bastrop County.
The recurring complaint across Highline's markets isn't the internet — it's the rollout: install dates that slip (permits, weather, terrain) and slow follow-through on tickets and refunds. That matters here because Bastrop is a brand-new build finishing in late 2026, so set your expectations on timing and keep your own paper trail. Get install commitments in writing.
A fair-data caveat: independent review volume is still thin (about 55 Trustpilot reviews at roughly 4/5, low single digits elsewhere, little Reddit presence). One BBB profile shows an "F," but that's driven by just two unanswered complaints — an early-days, small-sample picture, not a verdict. Sources: Trustpilot, BBB, HighSpeedInternet, The Daily Press (Escanaba), Community Impact, KVUE.
Where the fiber goes
The grant build targets unserved addresses across Bastrop County, including the rural stretches between towns where real broadband never reached. Coverage is decided address by address, so a town on this list doesn't mean every street is lit yet — it means Highline is serving or building there.
Don't see your road? Rural addresses between towns are the heart of this grant build. Enter your exact address with Highline to get your status — it's the only way to know for certain. Check your address →
Why this is a big deal
Symmetrical speed means a clear video call, fast cloud backups, smooth security-camera feeds and quick photo uploads — the things slow DSL and satellite choke on.
Unlimited data and a buried glass line that doesn't drop in a thunderstorm the way satellite and fixed wireless can. Light through glass beats a signal fighting the trees.
Reliable high-speed internet is now table stakes for buyers, remote workers and home businesses. Fiber at the road is an asset that follows the property.
Real bandwidth makes remote work, online classes and video doctor visits dependable instead of a coin flip — the whole point of closing the digital divide.
A 3-year price lock and no annual contract means you can plan around the bill instead of bracing for the next increase.
Installs and support run out of the Smithville office, not a distant call center. When something needs a truck, the truck is from here.
Get on the line
The build is moving across the county now. The single best thing you can do is put your exact address in front of Highline — it confirms your status and gets you on the list for your area.
Straight answers
It's funded and under construction. Bastrop County won a $43.1 million grant from the Texas Broadband Development Office in November 2025, Highline is the company installing the fiber, and every Texas BOOT II project must be finished by December 31, 2026. This is a dated public commitment, not a marketing teaser.
The county-wide build is expected to complete in late 2026, but crews work area by area, so timing depends on where your road sits in the plan. The only reliable answer is to enter your exact address at highlinefast.com or call Highline's Smithville office at 512-360-4273.
Highline offers symmetrical fiber at 400 Mbps, 1 Gig and 2 Gig, each with a WiFi 7 router, unlimited data, no annual contract and a 3-year price lock. Installation is $99. Exact monthly pricing is confirmed once your address is verified; the published Whole-Home Wi-Fi package starts at $91/month for 400 Mbps.
Highline (Highline Fast Internet) is a rural fiber provider operating in six states, built on the lineage of Interstate Telephone Company, founded in 1896. It entered Bastrop County by acquiring RTA's local Smithville operation in October 2025 and runs the area from an office at 125 Kellar Rd in Smithville.
When Highline acquired RTA's Smithville / Bastrop County operation in October 2025, existing customers were told their service would continue without disruption. For account questions, the local Smithville office is 512-360-4273.
No. Bastrop Fiber is an independent community guide. We track the public rollout and point you to official sources — we don't sell service, and we're not affiliated with Highline or Bastrop County. Always confirm details directly with Highline or the county.