BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The RGV Broadband Coalition has provided the Rio Grande Guardian with a letter Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., sent recently to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar.
Treviño 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 Cameron County would not be able to utilize funds made available for broadband projects under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“The RGV has one of the greatest digital divides in the country, as documented by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Brookings Institute, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, the Purdue Center for Regional Development, the U.S. Census, and local surveys,” Treviño writes.
“The FCC Federal Broadband Map deliberately excludes vital information, such as actual active household subscribers to fixed broadband, which the ISPs could directly report if required, and which the US Census does report. Thus, relying on the false map, it makes it impossible to 'target persistent Poverty regions of the country’.”
Here is Judge Treviño’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 FCC Map to Determine BEAD Eligibility
Dear Comptroller Hegar:
As Cameron County Judge, I write to request that the Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) and the Department of Commerce, NTIA, waive reliance on the FCC federal Broadband Map. (Heretofore, ‘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, 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.
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” and therefore under the first federal broadband infrastructure funds received by the state from the Treasury Capital Projects Fund for its “BOOT” grant program (Rounds I and II) - none of the RGV regions qualified for funding. The Texas BDO has clarified to the public that it will use ‘the map’ to determine eligibility under the IIJA Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program expected to be open for applications in the fall of 2024. The RGV has one of the greatest digital divides in the country, as documented by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Brookings Institute, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, the Purdue Center for Regional Development, the US Census and local surveys.
The FCC Federal Broadband Map deliberately excludes vital information, such as actual active household subscribers to fixed broadband, which the ISPs could directly report if required, and which the US Census does report (see Table 2 above). Thus, relying on the false map, makes it impossible to “target persistent Poverty regions of the country.” Further, it excludes the very counties in the State of Texas with some of the greatest need 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 Ron Whitlock Reports 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 points 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 federal 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 RGV in many areas.
We have joined together in the RGV Broadband Coalition to create our region's broadband and digital opportunity plan in preparation for applying under the Texas BDO BEAD, Digital Equity grant programs, 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 TX BDO, it appears ‘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. Therefore, 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 BDO, Comptroller of Public Accounts, to act within the authority granted to it by the NTIA, to wit, the BDO 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 IIJA. This request is consistent 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 email: jordana@connecthumanity.fund or Mr. Dan Serner, Deputy County Administrator at (956) 550-1369 or email: dan.serna@co.cameron.tx.us.
Sincerely,
Eddie Treviño, Jr.
County, Judge
Xc: Greg Conte, Director
Broadband Development Office (BD)
Office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
P.O. Box 13528
Capital Station
Austin, TX 78711-3528
Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator
National Telecommunications & Information Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20230
