Elected officials of Bastrop County and Highline staff gathered on December 3 for a kickoff celebration to recognize a $43 million state grant for broadband, the largest infrastructure investment in the community’s history.

Officials had expected around $3.3 billion under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program (BEAD), yet the state was awarded just shy of $1.3 billion, a short-fall that has left advocates and internet providers across rural counties feeling let down.

The Texas Technology Access Program's mission is to increase access for people with disabilities and those who are aging to Assistive Technology (AT) tools and services.

What comes after BEAD? While BEAD will build good broadband networks in a lot of rural communities, Doug Dawson of CCG Consulting believes that BEAD is not going to solve a lot of the rural broadband gap and has identified categories of locations that will still need better broadband after BEAD.

Want to see what is happening with federal broadband funds across the country? Connected Nation has created a BEAD Tracker that compiles and aggregates data directly from published state BEAD final proposals.

Texas’s draft spending plan under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program came in more than $2 billion under budget. Allocated more than $3.31 billion in 2023 to connect its remaining unserved and underserved homes and businesses, the state is planning to spend $1.27 billion on broadband deployment under the program.

DETCOG is engaging in an initiative to expand internet access and service quality across 11 counties. Through public input, surveys, and strategic planning, this Broadband Assessment and Action Plan will help identify needs, guide infrastructure improvements, and support digital equity for residents and businesses.

On Friday, May 9, the Trump Administration began notifying states that their Digital Equity Act Capacity Grant funds were terminated.

The termination of Digital Equity Act grant programs will have an adverse impact on county plans to achieve increased broadband adoption across communities.

The presentation explores how we can take a coordinated approach to developing the workforce that powers Texas water and broadband. The takeaway: many of the tools, programs, and partners we need are already in place — we just need to put them to work.

Disappointed by a lack of government support, the remote West Texas town raised the money it needed to connect 2,000 residents to high-speed broadband.

This podcast features a 15-Minute Cyber Health Checkup for Local Leaders, a very simple assessment you can use as a guide to taking action on your cybersecurity, immediately.

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance, in collaboration with the Puerto Rico Broadband Program (Smart Island), has translated six Digital Navigator forms into Spanish.

The Digital Access and Resilience in Texas (DART) curriculum integrates beginning English language learning with foundational digital skills.

As states begin rolling out the federal program to expand high-speed broadband access, national policymakers need to keep the momentum going after three years of state-led outreach and planning with internet service providers (ISPs) and communities.

This blog post condenses community conversations on narrowing the digital divide into five essentials for running successful digital navigator programs.

Closing the Digital Skill Divide finds strong demand for digital skills across every industry (dispelling misconceptions that demand exists primarily in the tech sector) and in almost every occupation, including entry-level and frontline positions.

A national organization focused on bringing open, affordable, high-performance broadband to all people in the U.S. to ensure a thriving democracy.

The Federal Communications Commission’s updated broadband location dataset, known as the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric, will now serve as the official reference point for verifying deployment obligations under various programs.

Operation Connectivity formed to connect Texas's 5.5 million public school students with an e-learning device and reliable internet sufficient for learning.

Fiber-optic cables may just be glass in the ground if people cannot subscribe to and use high-speed internet access. The human infrastructure of broadband is the necessary social and relational complement to the work of building physical infrastructure.

Texas Rural Funders and Texas Water Foundation commissioned Jobs for the Future to conduct a landscape analysis across the state of Texas. This new report analyzes data on the existing workforce, projected workforce needs, and state and regional education and training efforts that can support the development of a skilled broadband and water workforce.

This new tool from the National Digital Inclusion Alliance makes it easier to connect with affiliates.

The Rio Grande Valley Broadband Coalition is a group of organizers and partners whose mission is to build digital equity and access in the region and close the gap on the digital divide. The coalition met on December 3 in San Juan, Texas, to discuss the Texas Broadband Development Office’s quick turnaround challenge through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program.

Effectively leveraging broadband infrastructure as a transformative tool for rural economic development and resilience requires a collaborative effort between local broadband service providers and communities.

Working with the Office of Connected Care in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society examined how states understand and address the needs of Veterans.

A new, permanent broadband affordability benefit focused on unconnected households - and funded by the Universal Service Fund - can close America’s broadband affordability gap

Connected Nation's digital skills training is for everyone, and includes computer, internet, and email basics and more! Have one of their team members come out and help your community or organization enhance their technology skills.

With growing reliance and investment in broadband, the industry has become the latest skilled trade providing crucial support for our societies.

Broadband provider FiberLight announced high speed internet for 59 school districts in the Texas Panhandle funded by the Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate program, which provides affordable internet access to school districts and libraries.

Broadband providers and banking groups are continuing to ask that the Federal Communications Commission ditch the bank rating system it has relied on for its subsidy program’s financing requirements.

When disaster strikes, Polk County Judge Sydney Murphy takes command of her county’s emergency communication channels, including a text service and Facebook page.

To understand where we are and what it will take to achieve true digital equity for rural communities and Native nations, the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group spoke with some of the practitioners working on the ground to deploy broadband and make sure communities can use it to advance equitable rural prosperity.

The American Association for Public Broadband’s newly launched handbook will guide communities in building their own broadband networks, bringing local control and choice to cities and towns across America.

Teens Teach Tech, powered by AT&T, provides a platform for tech-savvy teenagers to offer digital skills training in their communities as a service project or to earn financial incentives. By forming a team with two or more teens, you as a mentor, are pivotal in facilitating valuable digital skills, training sessions, and fostering a culture of continuous learning in your community.

These self-paced online courses from Community Tech Network prepare organizations for tackling the digital divide. These courses include options for trainers who are looking to understand adult learning principles and instructional methods, managers who are looking to manage digital navigators, and more.

The Benton Institute on Broadband & Society released an updated Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Performance Tool. It has a new feature -- the ACP Risk Score, in which we identify ZIP code areas where loss of service is likely to be most severe when the ACP subsidy goes away.

LISC invites applications to the Broadband Help Hub, part of the National Broadband Technical Assistance Marketplace. This rapid-response program provides communities with high-quality, targeted technical assistance to produce investment-ready broadband plans.

Kelty Garbee, Executive Director of Texas Rural Funders, spoke with The Texas Tribune about the Affordable Connectivity Program.

E-Rate helps schools and libraries boost their technology investment, and Boosting Broadband with E-Rate explains the program and shares inspiring examples of how E-Rate is used to help children and community members have more access to the latest technology with limited local investment.

This resource from Texas Rural Funders offers a non-exhaustive survey of funding and technical assistance for broadband projects in 2024.

This new hub from the BDO provides in-depth information about the digital divide and digital opportunity in Texas.

Bringing fiber infrastructure to rural areas is expensive and time consuming. Wise County, Texas, found a way to deliver high-speed Internet access without wires.

As states get closer to accepting applications for $42.5 billion in BEAD rural broadband funding, more defaults in the previous RDOF rural broadband funding program could be coming.

A new brief from the Benton Institute analyzes the economic impact of ACP through the lens of financial benefits for subscribers.

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance hosted a webinar with the FCC on the ongoing ACP wind-down. View a timeline here.

Hot off the presses! The latest draft of the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan (TDOP) was submitted to NTIA on February 28, 2024. 

For decades, millions of Americans have been forced to go without internet or pay for subpar service, which thwarts opportunities to participate and thrive in today’s society, especially for Black communities in the rural South.

This dashboard visualizes the data released on Affordable Connectivity Program utilization by the Universal Service Administrative Company.

The legislation behind the historic investment directs state agencies to send money to the state’s smaller, cash-strapped towns that have difficulty paying for upgrades. Federal money is also expected to flow to regions that need broadband.

This web application is designed to help communities and organizations make informed decisions about broadband deployment while considering natural hazard risks.

Access to broadband has transformed our economy and our society. This document from Texas Rural Funders helps demystify funding and clarify the vocabulary of broadband development.

The Pottsboro Library and TekWav are pleased to announce a partnership to bring internet service to the patrons of the library through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) program.

Borderplex Connect is a regional coalition of public, private, and nonprofit partners dedicated to promoting digital inclusion in the Borderplex region.

LIFE works to economically mobilize its community by teaching financial literacy, creating economic stability, and building generational wealth.

The Deep East Texas Council of Governments and Economic Development District is a voluntary association of local governments in an 11 county region in East Texas.

Find free wifi in Texas using this map.

SA Digital Connects is a broad coalition of public, private, and community partners are working together to reduce the digital divide.

The Texas Border Small Business Broadband Fund will invest in high-speed connectivity, digital transformation, and skills development for businesses in Hidalgo and Cameron counties

On the eve of a historic investment in connecting the Lone Star State, advocates worry maps that will help establish which communities get funding have bad information.

As part of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program, the NTIA announced Texas’ $3.3 billion allocation.

Connect Humanity is a non-profit impact fund working to change that, combining tailored investments, strategic advice, and technical guidance so that everyone can connect to fast, affordable, reliable internet access.

Book analyzing the promise and the failure of national rural broadband policy in the United States and proposes a new national broadband plan.

With residents and partners, Rural LISC supports resilient and inclusive rural communities as great places to live, work, and innovate.

Texas Electric Cooperatives represents the interests of 76 electric cooperatives with more than 3 million members throughout the state.

This unique series focuses on broadband development finance with an emphasis on the legal, technical, and financial challenges facing communities working to develop broadband.

Through a Listening Tour and Focus Group meetings, this 2018 report examines broadband access identified in rural Texas and prioritizes recomendations to empower Rural Texas.

This report from Texas Rural Funders tells broadband stories across Texas counties, identifies key broadband stakeholders, offers policy recommendations.

Broadband maps showing availability of broadband at various speeds in all 254 Texas counties.

The Texas Broadband Development Office provides a variety of tools and resources supporting the expansion of broadband access across Texas.

Book examining how large corporations that control cable and internet access in the United States use their tremendous lobbying power to tilt the playing field against competition, holding back the infrastructure improvements necessary for the country to move forward.

Texas 2036 is a non-profit dedicated to enabling Texans to make policy decisions through accessible data, long-term planning and statewide engagement.

Coalition co-founded by Texas Rural Funders which seeks to ensure all Texans have equitable access to reliable and affordable digital connectivity.

Statewide non-profit that seeks to support all Texans in accessing and leveraging broadband.

The Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA) is a coalition of stakeholders from the City of Dallas, corporations, Civic and NGO organizations, academia and private individuals who are invested in Dallas’ continued evolution as a forward‐thinking, innovative, ‘smart’ city.

A partnership between the Center Economic Development Corporation and Etex Telephone Cooperative has resulted in multiyear project to build a new state-of-the-art network to develop critical connections to the City of Center in Shelby County.

Based on best practices and tailored to Texas, this report works through strategies that serve Texas households, local communities, and private internet service providers.

Updated Federal Broadband Funding Guide to provide a one-stop-shop of resources for applicants.

Guidebook that helps communities evaluate and meet specific connectivity needs. It outlines community needs and how philanthropy can help.

The Public Library Association announced digital literacy courses and training materials developed in collaboration with AT&T. 

Information to help rural communities understand the available resources under the infrastructure law, where to apply, and how find more information.

The American Rescue Plan provides new and expanded opportunities for rural America. Aspen CSG is collecting links and resources explaining federal opportunities for rural people and places.

This guide from Texas Rural Funders offers a step-by-step approach to securing fast, reliable, affordable broadband internet service in communities. 

Playbook from America Achieves and Rural Innovation Strategies, Inc. with recommendations on growing the nation's broadband workforce.

Pew Charitable Trusts has launched Opportunity Broadband, an alliance of partners committed to helping communities across the country use the nation's investment in universal, affordable broadband.

Tool created through a partnership between Rural LISC and Heartland Forward, showing where households have enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program.

Article detailing the role of public libraries in expanding digital equity through partnerships with government entities and other efforts.

The Federal Emergency Broadband Benefit (the Affordable Connectivity Program's predecessor) was intended to connect the unconnected. A recent study shows that the program did not achieve this goal, but local areas can increase program participation.

The Texas Broadband Development Office gathered input from the Texas Broadband Listening Tour and survey responses to create the first Texas Broadband Plan