Texas Approval Turns Big Corner for BEAD

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2024 – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration approved Texas’s plan to implement a more than $3 billion broadband grant program. The agency has now approved every state and territory plan for their slice of Infrastructure Act funding.

With all proposals greenlit, the NTIA will now be focused on approving lists of eligible locations – states have to field and adjudicate local challenges to government broadband coverage data – and approving final plans for funding specific projects.

There’s been speculation among industry watchers that the future Donald Trump NTIA might modify rules for the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program in a way that sees non-fiber infrastructure get a bigger piece of the pie. Trump is cozy with satellite ISP owner Elon Musk and they’ve both criticized BEAD’s fiber preference.