Frio County, Texas, is one of the more underserved areas in our entire service footprint. Dilley — the county seat and largest community in Frio County — sits along I-35 about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio. It’s a small town of roughly 4,000 people in a county of about 20,000, and internet service here reflects the infrastructure challenges common to small rural Texas counties.

What Internet Options Exist in Frio County

Let’s start with the honest picture.

AT&T has limited DSL infrastructure in Dilley and some surrounding areas. Fiber buildout has not reached most of Frio County. DSL speeds in Dilley are commonly 10–20 Mbps — functional for light use, inadequate for households with multiple users, remote work, or video streaming.

Spectrum does not meaningfully serve rural Frio County.

Starlink is available everywhere in the county and has become the most common upgrade option for Dilley and rural Frio County residents who need real speeds. At $120/month plus a $599 dish, it’s expensive — but it delivers 100–150 Mbps in conditions where no other provider can reach.

South Texas Internet serves Dilley and parts of Frio County with fixed wireless broadband from our tower network. Our coverage in this area is more targeted than our Medina County footprint — not every address in the county is within reach — but Dilley and the surrounding communities along I-35 are areas we actively serve.

Why Frio County Has Lagged on Infrastructure

The economics of rural broadband explain most of it. Frio County has a population density of roughly 15 people per square mile. Building fiber infrastructure in that environment requires either a very patient investor or significant public subsidy. Neither has materialized at scale.

The county also spans terrain that creates signal challenges for some wireless technologies. The brushy, flat landscape that defines much of South Texas can obstruct line-of-sight connections depending on property location and nearby vegetation.

That said, the fixed wireless technology we use has improved significantly. Where our towers have coverage, we can deliver speeds that would have been technically impossible in this region a decade ago.

What to Expect from STI in the Dilley Area

Our Velocity 400 plan delivers 400 Mbps down and 25 Mbps up for $65/month with no contract and no data caps. For Dilley and Frio County addresses within our coverage footprint, that’s a significant upgrade from DSL or Starlink at lower cost.

The most important thing we can tell you: call us first. Coverage in Frio County is not uniform, and we won’t confirm you can be served until we check your specific address. Call (830) 429-4149 and we’ll tell you straight whether we can reach you.

If you’re outside Dilley on a rural route or ranch road, line of sight to our nearest tower is the key variable. We’ve served addresses that surprised us and we’ve had to turn down addresses that looked obvious on a map. The only way to know is to ask.

The I-35 Corridor

The I-35 corridor through Frio County — from Pearsall down through Dilley and toward Cotulla — is an area with growing demand for reliable internet. The corridor sees significant commercial traffic and has attracted some industrial and agricultural operations that need real connectivity.

If your residence or operation is along or near I-35 in Frio County, STI is worth a coverage check before defaulting to Starlink. Call (830) 429-4149 to check your address.