Digital Opportunity Put on Hold in Texas

The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO), under the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, developed the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan to complement broadband infrastructure programs already underway in the state, including the Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas (BOOT) program and the state’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Texas has not yet received its federal State Digital Equity Capacity funding and—on March 4, 2025—BDO paused all grants and contracts to implement the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan. This decision was made due to “ongoing federal government realignment to meet the priorities of the new administration.” BDO wants to "ensure all efforts adhere to and are consistent with program guidelines before funds are made available.” Here, we take a look at the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan, and how BDO aimed to close the digital divide using Digital Equity Capacity Grant funding.