Texas Opens $3.8 Billion Broadband Grant Window

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2025 – Texas has formally opened the door to more than $3.8 billion in broadband infrastructure funding, launching its application window Thursday under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program and the Texas Match Assistance Program.

The state was allocated $3.3 billion in BEAD funding and is contributing an additional $500 million through TMAP, which offers state support to help applicants meet matching fund requirements – a critical boost for smaller providers and cooperatives.

According to a notice released by the Texas Broadband Development Office, applications will be accepted from June 12, 2025 through August 1, 2025. Applicants must register through the state’s BEAD portal before the deadline.

The launch comes as Texas officials have repeatedly urged the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees BEAD, to eliminate the program’s low-cost pricing requirement, preference for fiber, and prevailing wage mandates.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar sent a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in February, calling for the changes.

Since then, the state has offered to return $1 billion of its $3.3 billion BEAD allocation to the U.S. Treasury and halted its $55.6 million digital equity program, before the federal government rescinded Digital Equity Act grants, to avoid “applicants investing significant time and resources.”

Now, with the NTIA expected to issue revised BEAD guidance in the coming weeks, the state has left the door open to making changes to the solicitation. The NOFA states that any federal “programmatic revisions” will be incorporated into the grant process via an addendum, potentially shifting the rules midstream.

Questions about the NOFA are due by May 29, 2025 through the state’s official website.