Broadband grants paused as critics allege favoritism toward Elon Musk’s Starlink
The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) has temporarily halted all disbursements of federal funds related to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. This decision comes after allegations of favoritism towards Elon Musk’s Starlink, a low-Earth orbit satellite provider. The hold was implemented on Monday and will remain in place until further notice, though no specific reason was provided.
Lawmakers have called for an audit of the BDO’s grant award process, with concerns raised about transparency and fairness. Starlink and Amazon, another provider of residential broadband service through low-Earth orbit satellites, were both chosen as subgrantees by the BDO.
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