More Broadband in Texas
Texas lawmakers passed a big bill to fund broadband access this session, allocating $1.5 billion to expand internet availability across the state through a new Broadband Infrastructure Fund. While the new pool of money would have to be approved by voters in November and supplemented by an indeterminate amount of federal funding, the question of where the money will be spent is a sticking point due to state and federal maps that may not accurately reflect who has access to broadband internet.
One of those maps, the Texas Broadband Development Map, indicates working internet access in regions of Texas where residents report unreliable service. “There’s no way Floydada is as covered as it says it is, it just can’t be,” said Ryan Crowe, executive director for the Floydada Economic Development Corp, as he looked over a different, updated FCC map. Floydada, a small town of 2,700 people warmly known as the Pumpkin Capital of Texas, is just one example of a statewide issue.
There have been 2,200 challenges filed to the state map, and with 7 million Texans still waiting for a connection, there won’t be enough money to go around, especially in light of supply chain and labor shortage issues nationwide. The $1.5 billion sum allocated in the final version of the bill is significantly lower than the $5 billion that Lufkin Rep. Trent Ashby, the bill’s sponsor, initially proposed. The state comptroller, Glenn Hegar, said Texans are looking at a 10-year window to have work completed.
The Legislature also passed a bill making fiber internet a priority for the Texas Broadband Development Office, a department established in 2021 that Hegar oversees. Fiber internet is known for its speed — it’s much faster than DSL or cable internet — but it also can be a logistical nightmare because infrastructure costs tend to be higher. Rural parts of the state may not be well suited to take on fiber projects as things stand. Having alternatives will prove crucial to maximizing the impact of the state’s investment in broadband access, Hegar stressed.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/09/texas-broadband-investment-maps/
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