Texas is poised to receive more than $3.3 billion in federal money to fund a dramatic expansion of broadband, a historic investment in a state where 7 million residents lack highspeed internet connection.
But distributing that money appropriately and efficiently is a formidable challenge, especially for a relatively new state office still trying to build up a staff that will oversee the work.
And internet providers say they are simultaneously hopeful and skeptical about whether the incoming federal dollars will be enough to connect the most underserved Texans. Historically, other federal rural broadband funding programs have seen limited success because many companies who committed to providing broadband went into default after radically underestimating the costs to deploy broadband infrastructure in far-flung regions. Rural communities that have the greatest needs worry they will continue to be left behind.
