Legislative Services

Thanks to all who participated in the recent Broadband Development Office (BDO) Local Government Roundtables. The next meeting will be on Thursday, Jan. 5, from 10 to 11 a.m. CST. Subsequent meetings will take place on the first Thursday of every month at 10 a.m. Please mark your calendars and use this meeting link to join using Microsoft Teams.

The BDO is encouraging local governments to independently challenge the Federal Communication Commission's newly released National Broadband Map. Eligible entities, including counties, may challenge the map's accuracy through Jan. 13.

It is critical Texans participate in the challenge process in time for the FCC to include updated data in the final map. Two types of challenges may be submitted: 1. location (for example, incorrect location address, incorrect location unit count, etc.) and 2. availability (for example, the map incorrectly lists a certain provider or broadband technology as available).

The final map will be released by June 30 and will determine Texas' allocation for Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds. The BDO will provide guidance and assistance to members of the public who wish to participate in the map challenge process. The FCC is also accepting bulk challenges to the reported availability data.

Send your broadband questions or potential future agenda ideas to broadband@cpa.texas.gov.

Check out the BDO Community Toolkit and sign up for the monthly newsletter and other updates here.

We hope to see you at the next Texas Broadband Development Office Local Government Roundtable on Jan. 5.

For more information, please contact Megan Molleur or Katy Estrada at (800) 456-5974.