Texas governor’s office asked for broadband rules that help Elon Musk’s Starlink

The Texas office responsible for distributing over $5 billion in state and federal money to expand rural broadband faced allegations of “favoritism” and offering “sweetheart” deals at a recent hearing of the state Senate’s Business and Commerce Committee. At the June 24 hearing, lawmakers suggested the Texas Broadband Development Office was changing rules and giving special treatment to companies that offer broadband via low earth orbit satellites. According to testimony, some of those changes came at the suggestion of the office of Gov. Greg Abbott. Currently, Elon Musk’s company Starlink is the only one in Texas offering residential broadband via low earth orbit satellites at scale, though the Amazon Leo service has also been applying for grants in the state, according to industry monitors. “I'll just say it bluntly, favoritism and transparency are real big concerns that have been brought to my office,” committee chair state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, said.

[July 2, 2026]