Many outside of Texas enjoy mocking Texans with “I know, I know, everything’s bigger in Texas,” but the reality is that Texas is really pretty darn big. The US Census reports that as of 2021 Texas has more than 30 million people, living in more than 12 million households spread out across more than 261,000 square miles. As of the census, 87% have broadband at home.
More recently, BroadbandNow.com indicates that 92.5% of the Texas population has access to wired or fixed wireless broadband. Reaching that many people in a large and diverse state is no small feat, but the need, or value, for all Americans to have access to broadband became clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding that value motivated the U.S. Congress and the Texas state legislature to allocate billions of dollars to help ensure that all Texans have access to broadband.
Texas will receive $3.3 billion of federal funds made available from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act specifically to expand access to broadband. This year, the Texas legislature took a half measure and allocated an additional $1.5 billion to expand internet availability across the state through a new Broadband Infrastructure Fund but only if voters approve it at the ballot box in November. This is all in addition to billions more via other federal funds of which Texas will get a share.
Exactly where the Infrastructure Act and state funds will go is still unknown. The Texas Broadband Development Office will allocate the funds and presumably the money will go to communities where it is most needed to extend access. But this won’t happen automatically.
Strong guardrails on allocation and spending must be in place to guarantee that access is in fact expanded, as opposed to money being spent to “overbuild” in areas where Texans already have access. Unfortunately, making sure that the most effective technology is deployed is one guardrail that has already been compromised.
The Texas legislature passed legislation making fiber a priority for investment. But in some areas fiber is not the right answer and cable or fixed wireless may be more appropriate. Regardless, legislative mandate of a particular technology is almost never a good idea. In this case the result will be a higher cost of fiber deployment and therefore fewer people served and money wasted.
Another distraction is the desire by some to lavish cash on electric utilities so they can build a “middle-mile,” and pad their bottom line. The folly of this idea is fully described by IPI in a recent op-ed.
This huge tranche of taxpayer dollars needs to be spent wisely and leveraged with private sector spending so that more Texans actually gain access to broadband. If bureaucrats and politicians get distracted with fanciful ideas and cronyism the losers will be those Texans who have yet to join the digital economy.
August 4, 2023