Federal Government Approves Texas Broadband Development Office’s $1.3 Billion Proposal to Provide High-Speed Internet Access Statewide

Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced that Texas’ final proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, a roadmap for investing approximately $1.3 billion to close the state’s digital divide, has been approved by the federal government. Greenlighted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the BEAD plan submitted by the Comptroller's Broadband Development Office will make it possible for almost every Texas location on the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Map to connect to high-speed internet for the first time in state history, a landmark achievement years in the making. Under the plan, about 123,000 unserved and underserved locations would be connected by end-to-end fiber technology, roughly 65,000 via low-earth orbit satellite and about 54,000 locations through fixed wireless. Selected awardees will have four years to complete their work and provide service to every eligible location.Tex