Texas comptroller asks feds to delay broadband grants due to flawed maps

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LUFKIN — More than $42 billion of federal funding for high-speed web hinges on a map that state and native leaders say is “clearly” flawed.

Released final month, the map provides household-level information about who lacks entry to dependable, high-speed web. Now, because the deadline to dispute the accuracy of the map is shortly approaching, state Comptroller Glenn Hegar has requested the federal authorities for extra time.

The Federal Communications Commission launched the preliminary model of the map on Nov. 18 and gave native officers till Jan. 13, 2023, to problem its accuracy. The map is available online and permits anybody to see location-by-location information about web speeds and availability, as reported by web service suppliers. Federal funding might be distributed primarily based on which areas have the best want in accordance to the broadband map.

These {dollars} will assist Texas beef up broadband entry, particularly in rural areas which have gone underserved. Texas has lagged behind different states when it comes to broadband, and native officers, enterprise leaders and residents say the dearth of entry has held their areas again and made it tough to compete within the twenty first century economic system.

In a Monday letter to the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Hegar — who oversees the state’s broadband improvement workplace — requested the federal authorities to postpone the deadline to problem the broadband map by 60 days and to delay the scheduled launch of the ultimate map by one other 60 days, till July 14 of subsequent yr.

“This is clearly a flawed map,” Hegar stated in a press release. “Some of the responsibility lies with the service providers who are overstating the coverage they provide in their territories. This practice has become so routine that we often don’t notice it, but it will substantially limit competition as well as our ability to accurately allocate resources to those Texans whose access is inadequate.”

An NTIA spokesperson stated they’ve obtained Hegar’s letter and are reviewing it.

“NTIA is committed to balancing the urgency of the moment with the need for accurate maps for funding allocation,” the spokesperson stated.

In 2021, Congress allotted a historic $65 billion to increase high-speed web entry by means of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Of that funding, $42.45 billion might be out there as grant funding to states and territories to assist increase entry to high-speed web.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2.8 million Texas households lack broadband entry. A disproportionate variety of these are in rural areas, the place a low inhabitants density dissuades non-public corporations from establishing broadband infrastructure.

It’s these very communities that some advocates say are misrepresented within the broadband map.

Dustin Fawcett, Ector County judge-elect, stated the map seems to be correct for Odessa, the county seat with a inhabitants of 112,483, however appears to overstate broadband entry in outlying, less-populated areas.

“The reality of what the service providers are telling us and the reality on the ground do not match up,” Fawcett stated. “The map may say that you have the option to access the internet, but it’s not at the speeds advertised, and it’s not at a price tag that’s feasible.”

Fawcett stated that he has spoken to a number of Ector County residents whose broadband speeds are considerably slower than what’s represented on the maps. Others, he stated, could have entry to the web however at unaffordable costs, typically up to $300 monthly.

Some native leaders stated the method to dispute the accuracy of the maps is unclear and inaccessible.

Individuals can submit challenges straight by means of the map interface. But accessing the map interface requires web entry, leaving households with out entry unable to submit a problem.

“How can I go online to challenge the map if I don’t have access to the map?” stated Lonnie Hunt, government director of the Deep East Texas Council of Governments and a longtime advocate for rural web infrastructure. “Once again, it’s kind of an example where the people who need it the most are least equipped to challenge it.”

Hunt stated he’s happy that Hegar has requested the federal authorities for extra time to problem the maps, which he believes are inaccurate. He stated he would use that point to attempt to submit a “bulk challenge,” a course of by which native governments can dispute a number of places directly.

Hunt stated he has been discussing this chance with an engineering firm that would assist the area put collectively the majority problem.

“The process to challenge the maps is not simple or easy, and our local communities just do not have the capacity to take that on,” Hunt stated. “We are trying to marshal resources to provide a challenge, but we need more time and, honestly, we need the state to take the lead.”

The state’s Broadband Development Office, which is managed by the comptroller, was created by the Texas Legislature in 2021.