Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar last week announced an initial award of $4.8 million in grant funding to six High Plains counties for broadband infrastructure projects as part of the Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas (BOOT) program. This initial funding will support four broadband projects that will bring reliable, affordable internet service to 648 locations in the counties of Floyd, Hockley, Hall, Yoakum, Donley and Garza.
“The distribution of these funds is just the beginning of a historic investment in Texas,” said Hegar, who is chair of the Comptroller-run Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO), which has been legislatively mandated to close the digital divide in this state. “Critical broadband infrastructure projects across the state are starting to get much-needed attention that will help us increase access to reliable, high-speed internet and close the availability gap in Texas.”
AMA Communications was awarded $2.9 million to connect 310 locations in Donley County.
An AMA spokesman told the Enterprise Tuesday the company is currently working on the details for the grant-funded work in Donley County, but they not yet ready to make an announcement.
In 2021, Texas was allocated $500.5 million as part of the Capital Projects Fund (CPF), a $10 billion component of the American Rescue Plan Act. Texas received the second-largest allocation of any state.
In 2023, the BDO began accepting grant applications for the BOOT program, which is funded through CPF dollars. Eligible applicants included internet service providers, political subdivisions and public-private partnerships interested in developing broadband infrastructure to connect unserved and underserved locations.
Poka Lambro Telecom-munications Ltd., Valor Telecom-munications of Texas LLC, AMA Communications LLC and Resound Networks received funding for broadband infrastructure projects in High Plains counties. The awardees met a mandate that they could deliver, upon completion, broadband service that reliably meets or exceeds symmetrical speeds of 100 megabits per second. They also demonstrated they could provide a universally available low-cost option for locations being connected through the BOOT program.
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