Favoritism accusations have led to legislative calls for an audit of the Broadband Development Office and that audit is now underway as part of a general self-review by the state’s Comptroller’s office, according to reports.
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After being accused of improperly favoring certain companies — particularly Elon Musk’s Starlink — the state’s Broadband Development Office has placed a temporary hold on the disbursements of subgrants from the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.
In an email obtained by The Texas Tribune, an online publication, the Broadband Development Office said the hold was effective as of Aug. 10 and that it will be in place “until further notice.” The BDO did not give a reason for the hold, according to The Texas Tribune.
However, favoritism accusations have led to legislative calls for an audit of the Broadband Development Office and that audit is now underway as part of a general self-review by the state’s Comptroller’s office, according to reports.
Sen. Charles Schwertner
The Controversy
The current controversy started during a legislative hearing July 24 after lawmakers began raising questions about subgrantee awards under the multi-billion-dollar federal BEAD program. Sen. Charles Schwertner, chair of the Senate Business and Commerce committee that conducted the hearing, said he had fielded complaints about potential upfront money disbursements to subgrantees — and whether rules governing those disbursements were being implemented equitably. He expressed particular concern about BDO rule changes that favored low-earth orbit systems like Starlink. BDO’s executive director said during the hearing that those specific changes were the result of a directive from the office of Gov. Greg Abbott.
Musk’s Starlink is the state’s largest provider of residential broadband service through low-Earth orbit satellites, although Amazon also recently began deploying its own satellites for the same purpose, according to The Texas Tribune. The BDO has selected both companies as BEAD sub grantees.
Not long after the July 24 hearing and in response to concerns raised during it, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows called for the BDO audit. In a joint statement, Patrick and Burrows also said they would review the BDO grant award process during the upcoming legislative session next year.
— R.A. Dyer