88R11075 DIO-F
By: Nichols S.B. No. 1238
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to broadband development.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 490I.0101(a) and (b), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) For purposes of this chapter, subject to Subsection (b),
"broadband service" means Internet service with the capability of
providing a:
(1) [a download] speed of not less than 25 megabits per
second for a download [or faster]; [and]
(2) [an upload] speed of not less than three megabits
per second for an upload; and
(3) network round-trip latency of less than or equal
to 100 milliseconds based on the 95th percentile of speed
measurements [or faster].
(b) If the Federal Communications Commission adopts
standards [upload or download threshold speeds] for advanced
telecommunications capability under 47 U.S.C. Section 1302 that are
different than those specified by Subsection (a), the comptroller
by rule may require Internet service to be capable of matching the
[providing download or upload speeds that match that] federal
standards [threshold] in order to qualify under this chapter as
"broadband service."
SECTION 2. Sections 490I.0105(a), (c), (d), (f), (k), (l),
and (n), Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The broadband development office shall create, update
annually, and publish on the comptroller's Internet website a map
classifying each designated area in this state as:
(1) an unserved [eligible] area, if[:
[(A)] fewer than 80 percent of the broadband
serviceable locations [addresses] in the designated area have
access to broadband service; [and
[(B) the federal government has not awarded
funding under a competitive process to support the deployment of
broadband service to addresses in the designated area; or]
(2) an underserved [ineligible] area, if the area is
not an unserved area and fewer than[:
[(A)] 80 percent [or more] of the broadband
serviceable locations [addresses] in the designated area have
access to broadband service capable of delivering threshold speeds
the comptroller establishes by rule; or
(3) a served area if the designated area is neither an
unserved nor an underserved area [(B) the federal government has
awarded funding under a competitive process to support the
deployment of broadband service to addresses in the designated
area].
(c) After creation of the initial map described in
Subsection (a), the office may evaluate the usefulness of the
standards for unserved [eligible and ineligible] areas outlined in
Subsection (a) and, if appropriate, make a recommendation to the
legislature to revise the standards.
(d) The map required by Subsection (a) must display:
(1) the number of broadband service providers that
serve each designated area;
(2) for each designated [eligible] area, an indication
of whether the area has access to Internet service that is not
broadband service, regardless of the technology used to provide the
service; and
(3) each public school campus in this state with an
indication of whether the public school campus has access to
broadband service.
(f) Except as provided by Subsection (g), the office shall
use the best available data, including information available from
the Federal Communications Commission, to create or update the map.
(k) A person who contracts under Subsection (i) may not
provide services in this state to [for] a broadband provider [in
this state] before the second anniversary of the last day the
contract is in effect.
(l) The office shall establish criteria for determining
whether a designated area should be reclassified as an unserved
[eligible] area or an underserved [ineligible] area. The criteria
must include an evaluation of Internet speed test data and
information on end user addresses. The criteria may also include
community surveys regarding the reliability of Internet service,
where available.
(n) A broadband service provider or political subdivision
may petition the office to reclassify a designated area on the map
as an unserved [eligible] area or underserved [ineligible] area.
The office shall provide notice of the petition to each broadband
service provider that provides broadband service to the designated
area and post notice of the petition on the comptroller's Internet
website.
SECTION 3. Section 490I.0106, Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 490I.0106. BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. (a) The
broadband development office shall establish a program to award
grants, low-interest loans, and other financial incentives to
applicants for the purpose of expanding access to and adoption of
broadband service [in designated areas determined to be eligible
areas by the office under Section 490I.0105].
(a-1) The office may award grants, low-interest loans, and
other financial incentives to applicants for the deployment of
eligible broadband infrastructure projects located in:
(1) an area classified by the office as unserved or
underserved; or
(2) an area classified by the office as served if the
proposed broadband infrastructure project is targeted to deploy
broadband services to locations within the designated area that do
not have access to broadband service.
(a-2) The office may award grants to applicants for projects
not involving the deployment of broadband infrastructure that
expand the accessibility, affordability, or adoption of broadband
service, including education, training, community outreach, remote
learning or telehealth facilities, equipment purchases, or any
other use permitted by the applicable funding source.
(b) The office shall establish and publish criteria for
making awards under this chapter [Subsection (a)]. The office
shall:
(1) take into consideration grants and other financial
incentives awarded by the federal government for the deployment of
broadband service in a designated area;
(2) prioritize the applications of applicants that
will expand access to and adoption of broadband service in
designated [eligible] areas in which the lowest percentage of
broadband serviceable locations [addresses] have access to
broadband service; and
(3) prioritize the applications of applicants that
will expand access to broadband service in public and private
primary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b)(2), the office may
establish criteria that take into account a cost benefit analysis
for awarding money to the eligible areas described by that
subdivision.
(d) The office may not:
(1) except as provided by Section 490I.01062, favor a
particular broadband technology in awarding grants, loans, or other
financial incentives;
(2) accept an application from or award grants, loans,
or other financial incentives to a broadband provider that does not
report information requested by the office under Section 490I.0105
or 490I.01061;
(3) award a grant, loan, or other financial incentive
to a noncommercial provider of broadband service for a designated
[an eligible] area if an eligible [a] commercial provider of
broadband service has submitted an application for the same
[eligible] area; [or]
(4) take into consideration distributions from the
state universal service fund established under Section 56.021,
Utilities Code, when deciding to award grants, loans, or other
financial incentives; or
(5) except as provided by Section 490I.01061, award a
grant, loan, or other financial incentive for deployment of
last-mile broadband service for a location that is subject to a
federal commitment to deploy qualifying broadband service.
(e) The office shall:
(1) post on the comptroller's Internet website
information about the application process and the receipt of awards
and shall update that information as necessary; and
(2) post on the comptroller's Internet website for at
least 30 days information from each accepted application, including
the applicant's name, the area targeted for expanded broadband
service access or adoption by the application, and any other
information the office considers relevant or necessary[, for a
period of at least 30 days before the office makes a decision on the
application].
(f) During the 30-day posting period described by
Subsection (e) for an application, the office shall accept from any
interested party, other than a broadband service provider that does
not report information requested by the office under Section
490I.0105 or 490I.01061, a written protest of the application
relating to whether the applicant or project is eligible for an
award or should not receive an award based on the criteria
prescribed by the office.
(g) Notwithstanding any deadline for submitting an
application, if the office upholds a protest submitted under
Subsection (f) on the grounds that one or more of the broadband
serviceable locations [addresses] in a designated [an eligible]
area subject to the application have access to broadband service,
the applicant may resubmit the application without the challenged
locations [addresses] not later than 30 days after the date that the
office upheld the protest.
(h) The office shall establish and publish criteria for
award recipients. The criteria must include requirements that
grants, loans, and other financial incentives awarded through the
program for the deployment of broadband infrastructure may be used
only for capital expenses, purchase or lease of property, and other
expenses, including backhaul and transport, that will facilitate
the provision or adoption of broadband service.
(i) An award granted under this section does not affect the
eligibility of a telecommunications provider to receive support
from the state universal service fund under Section 56.021,
Utilities Code.
SECTION 4. Chapter 490I, Government Code, is amended by
adding Sections 490I.01061 and 490I.01062 to read as follows:
Sec. 490I.01061. EXISTING FEDERAL FUNDING; REPORTING
REQUIREMENTS. (a) The office may award a grant, loan, or other
financial incentive for deployment of last-mile broadband service
for a location that is subject to a federal commitment to deploy
qualifying broadband service if:
(1) federal funding is forfeited or the recipient of
the federal funding is disqualified from receiving the funding; and
(2) the location otherwise may receive funding under
the program.
(b) An applicant for an award under this chapter that has
been awarded federal funding directly and has entered into an
enforceable commitment to deploy broadband services in a location
shall provide to the office information the office may require
regarding:
(1) the existing enforceable commitment; and
(2) the proposed deployment of broadband.
Sec. 490I.01062. FIBER OPTIC PREFERENCE. (a) The office
shall prioritize broadband infrastructure projects that connect
each end-user location using end-to-end fiber optic facilities that
meet speed, latency, reliability, consistency, scalability, and
related criteria as the office shall determine for each applicable
notice of funds availability.
(b) The office may consider an application for a broadband
infrastructure project that does not employ end-to-end fiber optic
facilities if the use of an alternative technology:
(1) is proposed for a high cost area;
(2) may be deployed at a lower cost; and
(3) meets the criteria established by the office under
Subsection (a).
SECTION 5. Section 490I.0107(b), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) In developing the state broadband plan, the office
shall:
(1) to the extent possible, collaborate with state
agencies, political subdivisions, broadband industry stakeholders
and representatives, and community organizations that focus on
broadband services and technology access;
(2) [consider the policy recommendations of the
governor's broadband development council;
[(3)] favor policies that are technology-neutral and
protect all members of the public;
(3) [(4)] explore state and regional approaches to
broadband development; and
(4) [(5)] examine broadband service needs related
to:
(A) public safety, including the needs of state
agencies involved in the administration of criminal justice, as
that term is defined by Article 66.001, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(B) public education and state and local
education agencies, including any agency involved in the electronic
administration of an assessment instrument required under Section
39.023, Education Code; and
(C) public health, including the needs of state
agencies involved in the administration of public health
initiatives such as the Health and Human Services Commission and
the Department of State Health Services.
SECTION 6. Section 490I.0110(h), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(h) The [Beginning one year after the effective date of the
Act enacting this chapter, the] board of advisors shall meet at
least semiannually [once every other month] with representatives
from the broadband development office for the purpose of advising
the work of the office in implementing the provisions of this
chapter.
SECTION 7. The following provisions of the Government Code
are repealed:
(1) Chapter 490H;
(2) Section 490I.0101(c); and
(3) Section 490I.0105(m).
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.