- The Texas Comptroller has ordered all BEAD disbursements paused during an audit
- Texas lawmakers have accused the state’s broadband office of favoritism toward Starlink
- The favoritism may have come directly from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) has been ordered to pause all Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) awards, following allegations that the BDO favored SpaceX’s Starlink bids and that the office has not been transparent in its processes.
According to an email obtained by The Texas Tribune, Texas state Comptroller Don Huffines has placed a hold on BEAD funds effective as of Monday and until further notice. “No further action is required from subgrantees at this time,” wrote Huffines. “The BDO will provide additional guidance and updates as they become available.”
Texas was awarded $3.3 billion in BEAD funds, and after revisions to the program under the Trump Administration, the BDO is now overseeing $1.2 billion in BEAD awards.
There have been rumblings out of Texas for a few weeks now, with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle complaining that the BDO showed favoritism toward Starlink, whose parent company SpaceX just so happens to be headquartered in Texas.
For instance, Republican Sen. Charles Schwertner heard that while all other internet service providers were receiving their BEAD grant money in installments, Starlink would receive all its grant money up front. When questioned by Schwertner, BDO director Bryant Clayton said, “We did make a change to the disbursement schedule specifically for low-Earth orbit,” according to the Texas Tribune.
Clayton said the disbursement change was made at the request of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and it was made just days before the grant was awarded.
In addition, Schwertner said businesses that were requesting more information about the BDO’s grant process were being required to file Public Information Requests, and Schwerner called that “adversarial” rather than transparent.
Ultimately, lawmakers called for an audit of the BDO over concerns about the BEAD award process. And this has resulted in the Comptroller’s pause on BEAD awards while the audit is being conducted.
Dallas Democrat Nathan Johnson said, “Without drawing conclusions for the moment, the whole process may have involved coordinated corruption among the Trump administration, the illegally empowered DOGE czar Musk, private entities (Starlink), the governor’s office and the broadband development office.”
RELATED STORIES:
SpaceX now wants to alter BEAD performance requirements
Cost overruns are the biggest concern for BEAD winners now
Opinion: We've given huge hunks of BEAD to satellite. Now what?