Money for the grants comes from the Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas Program, also known as BOOT. The program is funded jointly by the federal Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF) and by voter-approved state revenue.
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Grant awards totaling nearly $702 million to support broadband development initiatives and bridge the state’s digital divide have been unveiled by the state comptroller.
Money for the grants comes from the Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas Program, also known as BOOT. The program is funded jointly by the federal Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF) and by voter-approved state revenue.
State Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced the new grant award funding on Jan. 22, explaining that grants will be administered by the state’s Broadband Development Office. The BDO has a mission to facilitate the delivery of high-speed, reliable internet to more than 95,000 unserved locations in Texas. This is the second round of BOOT funding.
“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.”
BOOT is a competitive grant program designed to support infrastructure projects on a county-by-count basis. When complete, the projects will deliver reliable broadband service to homes and businesses in counties with large unserved or underserved populations.
As noted by the Comptroller’s office, funding was made available for two counties from each of 12 economic regions based on the percentage of locations that lack broadband service at speeds of 100/20 megabits per second (Mbps). The comptroller noted that the program prioritizes the deployment of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) technology and that the projects must be complete and operational by the end of 2026.
Of the $701.9 million available to be awarded for this second round of BOOT grants, the BDO has finalized agreements totaling more than $424.6 million, according to the Comptroller’s office. This amount will cover projects in 13 of the 24 selected counties and connect more than 54,000 locations to high-speed internet service. The counties are Bastrop, Carson, Coleman, Edwards, Falls, Irion, Karnes, Liberty, Morris, Newton, Reagan, Throckmorton and Trinity.
The BDO also is in the process of finalizing awards for an additional nine counties that will connect an additional 39,000 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, according to the Comptroller’s office.