EDINBURG, Texas - The RGV Broadband Coalition has provided the Rio Grande Guardian with a letter Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez sent to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar.
Cortez does not want the FCC Federal Broadband Map to be used when determining if his county qualifies for funding for broadband projects. The judge believes the map is flawed, arguing that “it is not reflective of reality.”
If the map is used Hidalgo County would not be able to utilize funds made available for broadband projects under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
“The FCC Federal Broadband Map deliberately excludes vital information, such as actual active household subscribers to fixed broadband,” Cortez writes.
“Relying on a map that is not accurate makes it impossible to target persistent poverty regions of the country.”
Cortez pointed out that the map excludes counties in Texas with some of the greatest needs from qualifying for broadband funds under the IIJA Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.
Here is Judge Cortez’s letter:
August 7, 2024
Honorable Glenn Hegar
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
P.O. Box 13528, Capitol Station
Austin, TX 78711-3528
Re: Request for Waiver of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Map to Determine Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Eligibility
Dear Comptroller Hegar:
I write to request that the Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) and the Department of Commerce. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), waive reliance on the FCC federal Broadband Map (hereafter, ‘the map’) to determine eligibility and funding for broadband projects in persistent poverty counties along the Texas border, including the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) region of Texas (Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy Counties). There is conclusive evidence ‘the map’ is not reflective of reality, and if used to determine eligibility will prevent NTIA and Texas BDO from meeting the statutory requirements of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
In the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), under section 60101, Congress made several policy findings that acknowledge the essential nature of broadband infrastructure to all citizens of the United States. Congress recognized that reliable, high-speed broadband is essential to full participation in modern life and that the digital divide is a barrier to the economic competitiveness of the United States and equitable distribution of essential public services, including healthcare and education. Significantly, as it relates to communities along the Texas border, Congress found that the digital divide disproportionately affects communities of color, lower-income areas and rural areas, and that it is critically important that reliable, high-speed broadband service be affordable to individuals, families and communities.
For these reasons, Congress directed NTIA to target persistent poverty regions of the country for investment under the IIJA BEAD program. Additionally, Congress required that certain covered populations be specifically targeted for IIJA funding, including low-income, racial and ethnic minorities, rural, limited English proficiency, veterans, older Americans. The Texas border region, including the four RGV counties referenced above, is one of the four persistent poverty regions in the country, meaning that for at least three consecutive decades, 20% or more of the population has been below the poverty line. See the latest persistent poverty map in the attached memo to the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council (LRGVDC).
Below are the statistics for some of the key RGV-covered populations under IIJA:
According to ‘the map’ the Rio Grande Valley has broadband available. Therefore, under the first federal broadband infrastructure funds received by the state from the Treasury Capital Projects Fund for its Brining Online Opportunities to Texans (BOOT) grant program (Rounds I and II), none of the RGV regions qualified for funding (see the latest map released by Broadband Development Office in July 2024 for the qualifying counties for BOOT, Round II, attached). The Texas Broadband Development Office has clarified to the public that it will use this map to determine eligibility under the IIJA Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, which is expected to be open for applications in late Fall 2024. The RGV has one of the greatest digital divides in the country, as documented by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Brookings Institution, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, the Purdue Center for Regional Development, the U.S. Census, and local surveys.
The FCC Federal Broadband Map deliberately excludes vital information, such as actual active household subscribers to fixed broadband. This information could be directly reported by ISPs if directly and it is reported by the U.S. Census (see Table 2 above). As a result, relying on a map that is not accurate makes it impossible to target persistent poverty regions of the country. Furthermore, the map excludes counties in Texas with some of the greatest needs and highest percentages of covered populations from qualifying for broadband funds under the IIJA BEAD (see Table 1).
As Texas Comptroller Hegar himself noted, “the Rio Grande Valley definitely has one of the biggest digital divides in the State,” and the map “doesn't truly reflect the digital divide in the Rio Grande Valley.” In an interview with the Ron Whitlock Report for the Rio Grande Guardian Comptroller Hegar also notes that the ISPs were able to “game the system to show we have more coverage than we do.” In addition, Comptroller Hegar pointed out that the quality of connection is not captured by the map. And, he underscored that the symmetrical speed necessary for the border region to partake in telehealth is not available. Hegar stated that Texas created a map to correct the inaccuracies. Whether or not the Texas map did so is irrelevant now because the Texas BDO decided to discard its own map and chose instead to rely on the federal map. In a prior press release, Comptroller Hegar also noted that the map is inaccurate and limits competition. The map does not accurately reflect the digital divide that exists in Cameron County and the Rio Grande Valley, and if used to determine eligibility, the region and the entire State of Texas will be negatively impacted by this historic opportunity for infrastructure investment.
In the map challenge process Congress intended to provide a transparent, evidence-based and the expeditious process; however, it's been anything but that. It is widely recognized that the challenge process was set up to be too difficult, and it and it was not successful in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) and many areas.
We have joined together in the Rio Grande Valley Broadband Coalition to create our region's broadband and digital opportunity plan in preparation for applying under the Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO), Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD), Digital Equity grant programs, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Digital Equity Competitive Grants, and related programs. We are doing our part to be active participants in the process and diligently following guidance by NTIA and Texas BDO from briefings provided by the Texas Broadband Development Office.
From briefings provided by the Texas Broadband Development Office, it appears that the map will not be used to determine eligibility for the Digital Equity/Digital Opportunity grant programs for funding digital skills training, computer distribution, digital workforce development programs, and more. We request this waiver from using the map to determine eligibility for the Texas border persistent poverty counties in the forthcoming BEAD grant program that will invest in broadband infrastructure expansion and digital workforce training in the skills/credentials to build and operate the networks. We asked the Texas Broadband Development Office, Comptroller of Public Accounts, to act within the authority granted to it by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The Broadband Development Office has the authority to grant this waiver. In addition, we request the Assistant Secretary of Commerce and NTIA Administrator, Alan Davidson, grant this waiver and determine that a broadband expansion project for a persistent poverty county should be considered a priority broadband project as the term is defined in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This request aligns with the authority of the Assistant Secretary under section 60102 (f)(6) to utilize funds as necessary to facilitate the goals of the BEAD Program, including targeting funding for persistent poverty counties.
Should you have any questions regarding this waiver, feel free to reach out to Ms. Jordana Barton-Garcia at telephone (512) 731-7223, or via email: jordana@connecthumanity.fund.
Sincerely,
Richard F. Cortez
County Judge
Hidalgo County, Texas
cc: Greg Conte, Director, Broadband Development Office
Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA AdministratorHeading
