🛰 Royse City, Texas — Rockwall County — Est. 2026

IFC

Internet Freedom Cooperative

"Internet shouldn't be a privilege.
It's Freedom."

Built by the community  ·  Owned by the community  ·  For the community

$45/Month Member Rate 450+ Mbps Per Home $5.3 Billion In Available Grants Community-Owned Broadband Texas Cooperative Association Founding Member Spots Limited Break Even At 4 Members Royse City · Fate · Heath · Rockwall County $45/Month Member Rate 450+ Mbps Per Home $5.3 Billion In Available Grants Community-Owned Broadband Texas Cooperative Association Founding Member Spots Limited Break Even At 4 Members Royse City · Fate · Heath · Rockwall County
$5.3B+
Available Grant Funding
450+
Mbps Per Home
$45
Per Month — Member Rate
4
Members To Break Even
The Problem

Rural Texas
Got Left Behind

Rockwall County is the fastest-growing county in Texas. Families move out here every week — and get stuck with internet that belongs in 2005. Big telecom has had 20 years to fix it. They chose not to.


IFC exists because we live here. We know this problem personally. And we're building a permanent, community-owned solution.


I Want Better Internet
AT&T DSL
25 Mbps on a good day. Constant outages after every storm. No upgrade path in sight for rural addresses.
HughesNet / ViaSat
25 Mbps with 600ms+ latency. Can't video call. Can't work from home. Can't game. Data caps that throttle you by Week 2.
Overpriced Cable
$80–110/month for service that never delivers what it promises. Price hikes every year. No competition means zero accountability.
No Competition
One provider, take it or leave it. Big telecom has no incentive to improve. A cooperative changes the entire equation.
How It Works

Built Like A
Credit Union
For Internet

The rural electric cooperatives of the 1930s brought power to communities that big utilities ignored. Same legal model. Same community ownership. We're bringing broadband to rural Rockwall County — and you own a piece of it.

01

Founding Members Buy In

$300 one-time equity stake. You're not a customer — you're a co-owner. First 5 founding members fund the entire hardware launch. Zero out-of-pocket risk to get started.

02

Starlink Upstream Connection

IFC pulls internet from Starlink's next-gen V2 low-earth orbit satellites — 20x faster than the old HughesNet you've been tolerating. Reliable, weather-resistant, and already in orbit above Royse City right now.

03

Ubiquiti AirMAX Tower Distribution

A commercial-grade LiteAP AC base station broadcasts a 120-degree beam covering up to 5 miles. The same Ubiquiti hardware WISPs use across rural America to serve thousands of homes.

04

LiteBeam Dish At Your Home

A small, weatherproof dish mounts on your rooftop and receives the signal — delivering 450+ Mbps directly into your home network. Professional installation by our Field Operations team.

05

$45/Month — As A Co-Owner

Members pay $45/month. That's it. No contracts. No price hikes. No surprise fees. Annual patronage dividends when the cooperative generates surplus. The more IFC grows, the more you earn back.

06

Grants Fund The Expansion

$5.3 billion in state and federal grants are available specifically for rural broadband cooperatives. IFC is structured from day one to capture this funding and bring high-speed internet to every corner of Rockwall County.

The Technology

Simple. Proven. Scalable.

🛰️
Starlink V2
Low-earth orbit satellite upstream connection
📡
LiteAP AC
120° sector radio tower, up to 5 mile range
🏠
LiteBeam 5AC
Member CPE dish, rooftop mounted
450+ Mbps
Fast internet into every home
Founding Member Offer

Own A Piece Of
The Network

$300
One-Time Founding Member Buy-In
Equity stake in the Internet Freedom Cooperative
$45/month flat rate — locked in as a founding member
450+ Mbps delivered to your home
Annual patronage dividends on cooperative surplus
Voting rights on cooperative decisions
Professional installation by IFC Field Operations
No contracts. No price hikes. You own it.
Claim Your Founding Member Spot

Founding member spots are limited. First come, first served.

Why $300 Makes Sense

It Pays For
Itself In 4 Months

You're not paying $300 for internet setup. You're buying an equity stake in the utility that serves your neighborhood — and saving money every single month while you do it.

AT&T / Cable IFC Member
One-Time Cost $0 $300
Monthly Rate ~$85/mo $45/mo
Year 1 Total $1,020 $840
3-Year Total $3,060 $1,680
What You Own Nothing Equity Stake
You Save $1,380
Over 3 Years

The $300 buys itself back in 4 months of savings. Every month after that you're pocketing $40 that used to go to AT&T. Plus annual patronage dividends. Plus equity that grows with every new member.

Hardware is already ordered and arriving this week. The cooperative is filing with the State of Texas. IFC is not a concept — it's already in motion.

Why Cooperatives Win

$3.8 Billion
With Our Name On It

Federal and state governments wrote cooperative structure directly into broadband grant eligibility requirements. IFC doesn't just qualify — cooperatives are explicitly listed as eligible applicants in every major program below. That's not marketing. That's official government language. Click any link below to verify directly from the source.

✅ IFC Qualifies As Broadband

Texas defines broadband as internet service delivering 25 Mbps or faster via fixed wireless or satellite technology. IFC delivers 450+ Mbps via Ubiquiti airMAX fixed wireless with Starlink upstream — that's 18x the minimum threshold. IFC is a fully qualified broadband provider under Texas law.

$3.3B
Texas BEAD Program
Texas received the largest BEAD allocation in the nation — $3.3 billion in federal funding, plus $500 million from the Texas Match Assistance Program (TMAP). The Final Proposal was approved December 4, 2025 by the federal government. Projects are expected to begin construction Summer 2026. Cooperatives are explicitly named as eligible applicants in the official Notice of Funding Availability. Minimum speed requirement: 100 Mbps down / 20 Mbps up — IFC exceeds this standard.
✓ Verify: comptroller.texas.gov/programs/broadband/funding/bead/ 🔥 Construction Starts Summer 2026
$25M
USDA ReConnect Grant
The USDA ReConnect program has awarded over $5.5 billion across five funding rounds for rural broadband deployment. Maximum grant award: $25 million per project. No match required. Cooperatives are explicitly listed as eligible applicants. Service area must be rural — defined as communities under 20,000 population. The surrounding rural areas of Rockwall County qualify. USDA has specifically directed funds to establish and support cooperatives offering broadband in rural areas.
✓ Verify: usda.gov/reconnect Up To $25M — No Match Required
$500M
Texas TMAP
The Texas Match Assistance Program contributes an additional $500 million in state funds specifically designed to help small and mid-sized rural providers — including cooperatives — meet federal matching requirements for BEAD. This is Texas saying directly: we don't want the little guys locked out of federal money because of match requirements. IFC was built for this program.
✓ Verify: comptroller.texas.gov/programs/broadband/ Built For Small Providers Like IFC
$42B
National BEAD Program
Texas's $3.3 billion is part of the $42.45 billion national BEAD program from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. States are required to accept applications from cooperatives, nonprofits, municipalities, and private ISPs. The federal government specifically requires states to allow fixed wireless and low-earth orbit satellite technologies — exactly what IFC deploys. As of early 2025, all 56 states and territories have had their Initial Proposals approved.
✓ Verify: broadbandusa.ntia.gov Texas Gets Largest Allocation In Nation
Key Partner Organization
Texas Rural Funders

Texas Rural Funders maps active regional broadband collaboratives across the state and connects rural providers to grant pipelines, workforce training, and funding partnerships. IFC is pursuing a relationship with Texas Rural Funders as part of our grant strategy.

Visit texasruralfunders.org
The Founding Team

Built By People
Who Live Here

This isn't a Silicon Valley startup. This is Royse City. We know these roads, these neighborhoods, and these families. That's our unfair advantage.

RJ
Ronnie J
President & Executive Director
Royse City resident and SC9 Entertainment founder. Community connector with deep DFW roots. The vision, the hustle, and the trust of his neighbors.
DB
David Billings
Co-Founder & Community Director
Former Mayor of Fate, TX. AT&T professional. Royse City resident. Political connections, civic credibility, and the relationships that get things done.
X
X
Chief Data Officer
Data scientist at a major financial institution. Financial modeling, revenue projections, and analytics that make grant committees and investors say yes on the spot.
V
Vance
Field Operations Engineer
Commercial hardware installation professional. The expert hands that turn equipment orders into live networks serving real families across Rockwall County.
+
You?
Founding Member
IFC is community-owned. Founding member spots are limited. $300 buy-in. $45/month. Equity in the cooperative bringing real internet to Royse City.

Founding Member
Spots Are Limited

Reserve Your Spot
Full Transparency

Nothing To Hide.
Everything To Prove.

We know trust is earned. Here is the complete picture — where we are today, what we have already done, and what happens next. No spin.

✅ Done Today
Domain registered — internetfreedomcooperative.com
Starlink Rental Kit ordered — ORD-DF-HS0L4VYM5ESZNHUUH4
Ubiquiti LiteAP AC ordered — Amazon #114-8414959-1855436
3x LiteBeam 5AC dishes ordered — Ubiquiti #US4883024
This website is live at internetfreedomcooperative.com
📋 In Progress
Filing Texas Cooperative Association — sos.state.tx.us ($300)
Obtaining EIN from IRS — irs.gov/ein (free)
Opening cooperative bank account at local credit union
Hardware arriving — LiteBeam dishes Mar 18, tower radio Mar 20
Recruiting founding team members
🗓️ Coming Up
SAM.gov federal registration (free) — Week 2
FCC Form 477 broadband provider registration — Week 2
Texas BDO subgrantee registration — Week 3
IRS Form 1024 — 501(c)(12) filing — Month 2
USDA ReConnect application — Month 2
Get Involved

Let's Build
This Together

Whether you want to become a founding member, join the team, or invest in the seed round — fill out this form and we'll reach out within 24 hours.

🏠
Founding Member
$300 buy-in. $45/month. Own a piece of the cooperative that serves your community.
💼
Join The Team
We're building a team of community leaders, technical experts, and local operators.
💰
Seed Investor
We're raising $75K. Preferred equity + 8% annual return + patronage dividends.
📍
Location
Royse City, TX 75189
Rockwall County, Texas
Express Interest

We'll reach out within 24 hours. No commitment required.

Your information is kept strictly confidential and will only be used to contact you about IFC membership and updates.

🎉

You're On The List!

We'll reach out within 24 hours. Welcome to the IFC community.

Coverage

Do You Qualify?

IFC Phase 1 serves rural and semi-rural addresses in Royse City, Fate, and surrounding Rockwall County communities that currently lack access to reliable high-speed internet. If you're in the area below — you qualify.

Phase 1 Service Area
📍
Royse City, TX 75189
Primary service area — Phase 1
📍
Fate, TX 75087
Adjacent coverage — Phase 1
🔜
Heath, Rockwall, McLendon-Chisholm
Phase 2 expansion — grant funded
Not Sure If You Qualify?

Fill out the interest form and include your address. We will confirm eligibility within 24 hours. If you are outside Phase 1 coverage, we will add you to the Phase 2 waitlist at no cost.

From Sign-Up To Live Internet
1
Submit Interest Form
We confirm eligibility within 24 hours
2
Founding Member Agreement
Sign cooperative membership docs, pay $300 buy-in
3
Site Survey
Our Field Operations team surveys your rooftop for line-of-sight
4
Professional Installation
LiteBeam dish mounted, connected, and tested — typically 2-3 hours
You Are Live
450+ Mbps. $45/month. You own it.
Build Something Real

The Team That
Builds IFC

Every role below starts as a contracting position — you get paid per project, per install, per milestone. No risk. No commitment. Just results. As IFC grows and grant funding hits, every contract position has a clear path to a full-time role with salary, benefits, and equity. Here's exactly what each position makes and where it goes.

RJ
President & Executive Director
Ronnie J — Royse City, TX
FOUNDING
Community outreach, member recruitment, grant strategy, cooperative governance, team leadership, and vision. The person everyone in Royse City knows and trusts.
Phase 1 (now)Sweat equity + founding member stake
Phase 2 (20+ members)$500/mo stipend
Phase 3 (grant funded)$65,000/yr salary
Year 3 (500 members)$85,000/yr + dividends
DB
Community Director
David Billings — Co-Founder
CO-FOUNDER
Government relations, grant applications, city and county engagement, community partnerships, public meetings, and media. The former Mayor who knows every commissioner in Rockwall County.
Phase 1 (now)Founding equity stake
Phase 2 — per grant filed$500 per grant application
Per grant awarded5% of award value
Full-time (grant funded)$60,000/yr salary
X
Chief Data Officer
X — Data Scientist
FOUNDING
Financial modeling, revenue projections, member analytics, grant ROI analysis, investor reporting, and data infrastructure. The person who makes the numbers tell the story that wins grants and attracts investors.
Phase 1 (now)Founding equity stake
Phase 2 — per deliverable$300-500 per financial model
Per investor deck$500 per completed pitch
Full-time (grant funded)$75,000/yr salary
V
Field Operations Engineer
Vance — Hardware Installation
HIRING NOW
Site surveys, rooftop hardware installation, cable runs, network configuration, maintenance, and troubleshooting. Same commercial-grade Ubiquiti equipment you already work with — except now you own a piece of the network you're building.
Per residential install$150 cash
Phase 1 — 20 installs$3,000
Per tower build (BEAD)$500–$1,500/project
Full-time (grant funded)$55,000/yr + per install
OD
Operations Director
Open Position
OPEN
Day-to-day operations, vendor management, member onboarding, scheduling installs, logistics, and keeping the trains running. The person who makes sure everything happens on time and on budget.
Phase 1 (contracting)$25/hr for active hours
Per member onboarded$50 bonus
Phase 2 (20+ members)$1,000/mo retainer
Full-time (grant funded)$45,000/yr salary
The Honest Reality

Contracting Now.
Career Later.

Every position at IFC starts as a contract role — you get paid for what you deliver, with zero obligation and zero risk. We are not asking anyone to quit their job. We are asking talented people to build something on the side that becomes something real.

When BEAD grant funding hits — and it will, because Texas approved $3.3 billion and cooperatives are at the front of the line — IFC converts every key contract role to a full-time salaried position. The people who built it from day one get first right to those jobs.

You are not joining a startup. You are founding a utility company. There is a difference.

Apply To Join The Team
Team Earnings Summary — What The Full Buildout Looks Like
Role Phase 1 Contract Phase 2 Contract Full-Time Salary
President Equity $500/mo stipend $85,000/yr
Community Director Equity + 5% grants $500/grant filed $60,000/yr
Chief Data Officer Equity + $300-500/model $500/pitch deck $75,000/yr
Field Operations Engineer $150/install $500-1,500/tower $55,000/yr
Operations Director $25/hr + $50/member $1,000/mo retainer $45,000/yr

Full-time salaries are funded by BEAD/ReConnect grant awards. All founding team members also receive cooperative equity stake and annual patronage dividends independent of salary.

Work With IFC

Install The Network.
Own A Piece Of It.

IFC isn't just looking for installers — we're looking for a Field Operations partner who builds equity while building the network. If you work in commercial hardware installation and want more than just a paycheck, read this.

$150
Per Residential Install

Every LiteBeam dish you mount on a member's rooftop pays $150. Professional installation — survey, mount, cable run, test. Typical install: 2-3 hours.

$500+
Per Tower Build

When BEAD grant funding hits, IFC builds towers. Each tower project is a paid contract for the Field Operations team. First right of refusal on every IFC tower build in Rockwall County.

Best Option
Equity
Founding Member Status

Join the founding team as Field Operations Engineer. Founding member equity stake. Per-install pay. First right on all tower contracts. You're not an employee — you're a co-owner.

The Math

Phase 1 Alone
Pays $3,000

20 founding member installs × $150 = $3,000 in your pocket. That's just Phase 1 — before a single grant dollar hits. When BEAD funding comes through and IFC is building towers across Rockwall County, the Field Operations Engineer is the most important person in the organization.

You already do this for a living — same Ubiquiti-class hardware
Flexible schedule — installs happen on your timeline
$150/install cash — not waiting on a paycheck
Equity stake grows as IFC grows — you own what you build
First right of refusal on every tower contract in Rockwall County
Annual patronage dividends when cooperative generates surplus

"You already install this equipment for somebody else's company. Come help us build ours."

Talk To Us About Field Operations
Hard Questions Answered

Everything You
Need To Know

We know you have questions. Here are the real answers — no spin, no marketing language.

⚖️ Legal & Governance
What exactly is a Texas Cooperative Association?
A Texas Cooperative Association is a legal business entity formed under Texas Business Organizations Code Chapter 251. It is the same legal structure used by rural electric cooperatives like Farmers Electric Cooperative that have served Texas communities since the 1930s. Members own the cooperative, elect the board, and share in profits through patronage dividends. IFC is filing this entity with the Texas Secretary of State — not an LLC, not a nonprofit, a true cooperative.
Who controls the money and makes decisions?
The Board of Directors governs IFC. Each founding member gets one vote — regardless of how long they have been a member or how much they paid. The board is elected by members annually. No single person controls the cooperative. All financials are transparent to members. A cooperative bank account is opened at a local credit union and requires board authorization for expenditures above a defined threshold.
What happens to my $300 if IFC doesn't work out?
Your $300 is a membership equity contribution — not a service deposit. In the event IFC dissolves, members receive their pro-rata share of remaining assets after obligations are settled. This is standard cooperative law. Additionally, the cooperative carries liability insurance, and the hardware itself (Ubiquiti equipment) retains resale value. Frankly, the bigger risk is staying with AT&T at $85/month forever.
Is this actually filed with the State of Texas?
IFC is in the process of filing as a Texas Cooperative Association with the Secretary of State (sos.state.tx.us, filing fee $300). An EIN is being obtained from the IRS simultaneously. IFC will pursue 501(c)(12) tax-exempt status — the same designation held by Farmers Electric Cooperative — via IRS Form 1024 in Month 2-3 of operations. All formation documents will be available to founding members upon request.
📡 Technical
How fast is the internet really?
IFC uses Ubiquiti airMAX LiteBeam 5AC Gen2 dishes — rated for 450+ Mbps throughput at distances up to 15km. Real-world speeds for members within 3-5 miles of the tower will typically be 100-200 Mbps down, which is 4-8x faster than what most rural Royse City residents currently receive. This meets and exceeds the Texas BEAD minimum standard of 100 Mbps down / 20 Mbps up. For reference, streaming 4K video requires 25 Mbps. Working from home requires 50 Mbps. IFC delivers well beyond both.
What happens when Starlink goes down?
Starlink V2 satellites achieve 99%+ uptime in Texas weather conditions. In the rare event of an outage, IFC is building redundancy into Phase 2 infrastructure — including the ability to add a second upstream provider. Members are notified via SMS during any service interruption. IFC's SLA targets 99.5% monthly uptime. For comparison, AT&T DSL in rural Rockwall County frequently drops during any significant storm.
Who handles technical support and maintenance?
IFC has a dedicated Field Operations Engineer — a commercial hardware installation professional — responsible for installation, maintenance, and technical support. Members contact support via phone or text. Because IFC is community-owned, our incentive to fix problems fast is the same as yours — we live here too. Response time target is under 4 hours for outages during business hours, 24 hours for non-critical issues.
Can the network handle more than a few members?
The Ubiquiti LiteAP AC base station supports up to 50 concurrent client connections per sector at full speed. IFC's Phase 1 tower covers 120 degrees. Adding two additional sector radios completes 360-degree coverage and supports 150+ concurrent connections. Each BEAD grant tower adds another 50-150 capacity per sector. The architecture is designed to scale — the same Ubiquiti airMAX platform powers commercial WISPs serving thousands of subscribers across rural America.
💰 Financial
Where does the $300 founding member fee go?
The $300 founding member buy-in is deposited into IFC's cooperative bank account. The first 5 founding members ($1,500 total) fund the complete Phase 1 hardware deployment — Starlink upstream, Ubiquiti tower radio, and CPE dishes for each founding member home. Hardware has already been ordered and is arriving this week, demonstrating the leadership team's commitment. Monthly dues cover ongoing Starlink service ($250/mo), with surplus retained for equipment maintenance and expansion.
How does the cooperative make money long-term?
IFC generates revenue from monthly membership dues ($45/member/month). At 20 members, IFC nets $12,600 annually after Starlink costs. At 100 members across multiple towers, annual net reaches $72,000. Grant funding covers tower infrastructure — meaning capital expenditures are largely externally funded after Phase 1. When IFC generates annual surplus, members receive patronage dividends proportional to their usage — exactly how rural electric cooperatives have operated for 90 years.
🏛️ Grant Funding
Are these grants actually real — or just hope?
These are real, appropriated federal and state funds — not proposals. Texas BEAD ($3.3B federal + $500M state TMAP) was approved by the NTIA on December 4, 2025. The Texas Broadband Development Office is currently executing grant agreements and expects construction to begin Summer 2026. Cooperatives are explicitly named as eligible applicants in the official Notice of Funding Availability published by the Texas Comptroller's office. USDA ReConnect has already awarded $5.5 billion across five rounds. These are not hypothetical — they are funded and waiting for qualified applicants.
What does IFC need to do to qualify for grants?
IFC must complete four registrations — all free: (1) SAM.gov federal registration, (2) FCC Form 477 broadband provider registration, (3) Texas BDO subgrantee registration at comptroller.texas.gov, and (4) USDA ReConnect application at rd.usda.gov. IFC must also demonstrate it serves locations that lack sufficient broadband access under 100 Mbps — which the majority of rural Rockwall County qualifies as. IFC's cooperative legal structure, community ownership model, and rural Texas footprint position it favorably for every program listed.