Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar Announces $700 Million in Awards for Broadband Infrastructure Projects
(AUSTIN) — Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced today awards totaling $701.9 million for the second round of the Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas Program (BOOT II), aimed at bridging the digital divide and enhancing broadband access for unserved and underserved communities across the state.
This initiative, funded partly by the federal Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund and supplemented by voter-approved state revenue, was established to connect more than 95,000 unserved locations to high-speed, reliable internet.
“This historic investment will ensure that reliable, high-speed broadband — critical to health care, education and economic development — is available to every person in these counties,” Hegar said. “The counties selected for this program demonstrated a pressing need for broadband infrastructure investment, and this program will provide vital assistance to help these communities access essential online resources.”
Administered by the Comptroller’s Broadband Development Office (BDO), BOOT II is a competitive grant program designed to support countywide infrastructure projects that, when completed, will provide broadband service to homes and businesses currently lacking reliable internet access.
Following a thorough assessment of demonstrated need, funding was made available for up to two counties from each of the Comptroller’s 12 economic regions based on the percentage of locations lacking broadband service at speeds of 100/20 megabits per second. The program prioritizes the deployment of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) technology, ensuring that eligible locations receive high-quality internet connections. All award recipients offering FTTH committed to providing symmetrical internet speeds of 1 gigabit per second for fiber projects along with an unbundled, low-cost option for every funded location. Projects must be complete and operational by the end of 2026.
Of the $701.9 million available to be awarded for BOOT II, the BDO has finalized agreements totaling more than $424.6 million, which will cover projects in 13 of the 24 selected counties and connect more than 54,000 locations to high-speed, reliable internet service. The counties are Bastrop, Carson, Coleman, Edwards, Falls, Irion, Karnes, Liberty, Morris, Newton, Reagan, Throckmorton and Trinity.
The BDO is in the process of finalizing awards for an additional nine counties, which will connect almost 39,000 additional unserved locations.
While the BDO was unable to award projects in Jeff Davis and Hudspeth counties with this program, eligible locations in those counties will be included in future grant programs, including the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) and the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Grant programs.
The initial round of BOOT funding last summer saw $11.4 million in grant funding for broadband infrastructure projects that supported projects for 1,528 locations and 16 counties.
For other funding opportunities that will further address the needs of Texans and close the digital divide, visit BroadbandForTexas.com.
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