Peoples Telephone, based in Quitman, would like to see the city become a Gigabit City.

The designation would mean that every business and residence in the city has access to internet band width of at least one gigabit or more.

Jason Slagle, chief business development officer for Peoples, made the proposal to the Quitman City Council last Thursday, to positive reviews.

He said the company’s vision for 2024 is to make gigabit service available by running fiber-optic cable throughout the city.

Though the city is not a part of the company’s primary service territory, it has made fiber available where its lines have been laid.

Council member Steve Glenn said he subscribes to the high-speed service and it has been a great benefit to his business.

Slagle said Quitman is in what is known as a competitive area and serviced by Frontier Communications, which has “not done anything.” He added that other carriers do not care about cities in East Texas.

With Quitman being its home base, he said bringing the service to local businesses and residences is considered to be necessary for the company’s marketing efforts.

People has brought such service to some other cities, Slagle said.

Slagle asked whether there is the potential for a partnership to help expedite the project.

Questioned what that would mean, Slagle said Peoples typically looks at an 80-20 agreement.

He priced the project at $1.6 million to lay the main lines and another $1-1.2 million to make the drops at homes and businesses. That would put the city’s share around $560,000.

He said fiber costs about $70,000 per mile to install.

Slagle said he had also discussed the project with the Quitman Development Corp.

Mayor Randy Dunn said the council would have discussions on the matter at a future date.