All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico are currently working on digital equity plans. As they release draft plans seeking public feedback, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is sharing summaries focused on how states define their digital divides and their vision for reaching digital equity.

The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO), under the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, developed the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan to guide non-infrastructure-related digital opportunity investments. Another aim is to position the BDO to receive State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program funds from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Infrastructure Administration (NTIA). The focus is on closing the digital divide in Texas and ensuring every Texan has the skills and abilities to fully and safely utilize broadband access provided by the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program and other sources of funding. BDO is accepting public comment through January 5, 2024.

The plan includes five goals:

1. All Texans have access to reliable, affordable broadband internet service at home. 
2. All Texans have access to affordable computers and other internet-enabled devices in their home, with corresponding technical support services. 
3. All Texans have a broad foundation of digital literacy skills and access to a continuum of digital skills development programs. 
4. All Texans feel safe online and are familiar with cybersecurity and online privacy measures. 
5. Increase the percentage of Texans who utilize the internet for public resources and services. 

Vision for Digital Opportunity

The BDO established this vision for digital opportunity in the state:

To achieve this vision, the plan articulates the BDO’s strategy for improving broadband access and affordability, expanding access to devices and digital skills to reach these goals and, importantly, achieving the vision of improved quality of life and economic growth through widespread broadband adoption. This is the first plan of its kind in the state.

In 2022, the BDO established four quantifiable broadband goals in the Texas Broadband Plan (Broadband Plan):

1. Connecting more than 1 million households to high-speed broadband;
2. Improving connectivity for more than 5.6 million households;
3. Improving affordability of broadband for 3.6 million households; and
4. Assisting 3.8 million Texans with digital literacy challenges.

This plan builds upon the Texas Broadband Plan goals.

The BDO built this vision for digital opportunity on statewide engagement, aligned the vision with the NTIA’s Measurable Objectives, with the purpose of driving toward key state priorities and efforts in six outcome areas: 

• Accessibility of Essential Services
• Business and Telecommunications 
• Civic and Social Engagement  
• Economic and Workforce Development  
• Education
• Health   

The Digital Divide in Texas

Texas is home to more than 30 million people, of whom 4.2 percent lack fixed broadband availability, 31 percent lack broadband subscriptions, 23 percent are not using the internet, and 40 percent are not using a PC or tablet computer.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24.8 million Texans—86 percent of the state’s population—belong to one or more covered populations:

• Texas is a majority-minority state. 58 percent of Texans are members of a racial or ethnic minority group. Cost of internet, digital skills, and cybersecurity awareness are barriers for racial and ethnic minorities to access the internet.
• 28 percent are individuals with low literacy levels. They are among the covered populations most affected by the digital divide. Cost of internet, access to technical support and devices, awareness of discounted programs, digital literacy and cybersecurity are all barriers for individuals with limited English proficiency.
• 23 percent individuals in households below 150% poverty level. Cost of internet service, access to devices, digital literacy and cybersecurity awareness are all barriers to broadband adoption facing low-income households. 
• 21 percent rural. Internet availability, adequacy and speed are the primary barriers rural residents face to in-home internet adoption.
• 18 percent persons who are 60 years of age or older. Internet availability and adequacy are the primary barriers preventing aging individuals from connecting to the internet at home. 
• 11 percent individuals with disabilities. Cost and digital literacy are the primary barriers for Texans with disabilities.
• 7 percent individuals with a language barrier, including those who are English learners or have low literacy levels. In Texas, these individuals are among the covered populations most affected by the digital divide. Cost of internet, access to technical support and devices, awareness of discounted programs, digital literacy, and cybersecurity are all barriers for individuals with limited English proficiency.
• 5 percent veterans. Internet availability and adequacy are the primary barriers to in-home internet access for this population.
• 1 percent incarcerated individuals. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates Inmate Technology Services and works with a vendor to provide an outbound email messaging service for incarcerated individuals called JPay. Each email requires a "stamp" which users must purchase online or at a JPay kiosk, located in certain correctional facilities. Individuals incarcerated at certain TDCJ facilities may participate in remote video visitations at a cost of $10 for 60 minutes. TDCJ partners with a vendor, Securus Technologies, to deploy a free loaner tablet program to ensure that eligible incarcerated individuals will have access to a device for the duration of their incarceration, to participate in educational, vocational, religious and other relevant programming. 

The Texas Digital Opportunity Plan also considers the experiences of immigrants, members of tribal communities, and unhoused individuals as population groups uniquely impacted by the digital divide. 

• Immigrants represent 17 percent of the state’s population. Immigrants cited cost as the primary barrier to connecting to the internet at home. 
• Tribal communities represent 1 percent of the state’s population. Availability and reliability of internet and lack of technical support are all barriers to in-home broadband adoption tribal communities face. 
• Unhoused individuals represent 1 percent of the state’s population. They rely on only smartphones and mobile plans at some of the highest rates of covered and underserved populations.

The BDO developed the Texas Digital Opportunity Survey to identify the digital opportunity barriers affecting Texas households, such as the lack of access to broadband infrastructure, reliable and affordable internet service and the devices necessary to use the internet. The BDO also utilized the survey to examine challenges to broadband adoption, including digital literacy, awareness of cybersecurity and online privacy and publicly accessible online resources. The Digital Opportunity Survey was open to any Texas resident over the age of 18. 

The Digital Opportunity Survey received a total of 13,296 responses: 11,048 from the online survey and 2,248 from paper surveys disseminated during regional meetings and by libraries and other stakeholders. Paper surveys included a subset of the questions in the online survey and reached respondents using different methods than online (e.g., paper distribution vs. email and social media promotion). These differences in methodology call for separate analysis for the online and paper survey responses. After the data validation and cleaning process, the online survey received 9,440 valid responses, and the paper survey received 1,945 valid responses, resulting in a total of 11,385 valid survey responses that form the basis of the Digital Opportunity Survey’s needs assessment analysis. 

Texans do not have internet because it is too expensive or not available to them.

Among the 5 percent of online Digital Opportunity Survey respondents who do not access the internet from home, 60 percent selected lack of available or adequate internet services and 59 percent selected cost as the reason for not having a home internet connection.  

Among the 20 percent of paper survey respondents who do not have internet service available in their homes, 59 percent reported cost as the reason.  

Texans lack information about programs that could assist them with overcoming cost barriers. 

• Only forty percent of Digital Opportunity Survey respondents have heard of the ACP and 21 percent have heard of discounted internet services by internet service providers (ISPs).  
• Thirty-eight percent of households in Texas that are eligible to participate are enrolled in the ACP.

Most Texans have access to a device to get online. 

• In a question that allowed respondents to select multiple answers, most respondents use a smartphone (94 percent) to connect to the internet, in addition to other devices such as laptops (79 percent) and tablets (56 percent).  
• Some residents selected only a smartphone as the device they use to get online (7 percent). 

Some Texans do not have access to technical or cybersecurity support. 

• Eighteen percent of survey respondents cannot access technical support nearby.  
• Thirty percent of survey respondents who don’t have cybersecurity measures installed on their devices, or are not sure about it, also cannot access technical support from nearby sources.  

Some Texans are not comfortable with digital literacy skills. 

Eighty-eight percent of survey respondents are comfortable with connecting a computer or smartphone to a Wi-Fi network—a basic digital literacy skill.

Survey respondent confidence declines with more complex digital skills: 77 percent of respondents are comfortable deleting cookies on a web browser; 69 percent of survey respondents are comfortable with setting up parental controls. 

Some Texans are interested in internet or computer training classes. 

• Twenty-eight percent of online survey respondents are interested in internet or computer training classes.
• Survey respondents belonging to covered populations such as individuals with limited English proficiency (54 percent) and unhoused individuals (54 percent) are more likely to be interested in internet or computer training classes. 

Most Texans are familiar with cybersecurity and online privacy measures. 

• Ninety percent of respondents are familiar with cybersecurity measures and 86 percent have cybersecurity measures set up on their devices.

Texans use the internet to access essential services. 

• More than half of survey respondents use the internet for accessing public resources and services such as news and current events (89 percent), accessing healthcare (82 percent), searching for educational resources (75 percent), improving work skills (68 percent) and finding information about government services (58 percent). 

Texans who do not have internet at home must use the internet at schools or libraries, parking lots, and community organizations.

Strategies, Details and Timeline

To achieve the goals and vision of this plan, BDO will advance four primary strategies:

Strategy 1: Partner With and Fund Statewide Organizations. The BDO will work with a range of state agencies and other statewide partners already actively involved in advancing digital opportunity across the state, ensuring that work is supportive of realizing the goals of this plan. The BDO will partner and collaboratively plan with agencies such as the Texas Workforce Commission and Texas State Library and Archives Commission, with the goal of enhancing and expanding those agencies’ programs through funding available from the state’s forthcoming Capacity Grant. BDO plans to:

• Allocate a portion of the state’s capacity grant program to expand existing state programs 
• Provide funding to partners to implement recommended or planned digital opportunity programs.
• Provide funding to partners to develop programs or activities. 

Between September 2024 and December 2029, major implementation milestones will include:

• Establishing partnerships with statewide organizations.
• Allocating a portion of the state’s capacity grant programs to expand existing programs.
• Data collection on program impact.
• Allocating a portion of the state’s capacity grant programs to implement recommended or planned digital opportunity programs.
• Data collection on program impact and continued needs. 

Strategy 2: Fund Local Partners. Broadband adoption, digital literacy, device access and many other aspects of digital opportunity require locally based, culturally appropriate efforts. Leadership should come from the same communities that these efforts aim to serve; trust, safety and confidence are essential components of digital opportunity. The BDO will allocate a portion of its Capacity Grant to create a digital opportunity grant program, comparable to the Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas (BOOT) Program for broadband infrastructure, to fund local initiatives addressing the gaps in digital opportunity for covered populations and underserved regions. BDO plans to:

• Stand up a state-led local digital opportunity fund to directly fund organizations offering digital opportunity resources to covered populations and geographies with the highest needs.
• Expand the state-led local digital opportunity fund criteria to build capacity and staffing of organizations offering services to geographies and covered populations after funding those with the highest needs.
• Consider distributing funding to local organizations and governmental entities that can administer digital opportunity funds.  

Between January 2025 and December 2029, major implementation milestones will include:

• Establishing and deploying a two-year state-led digital opportunity fund to fund direct services.
• Data collection on program impact.  
• Assessing and adjusting the program to consider funding capacity building.
• Deploying phase two.  
• Data collection on program impact and continued needs.  

Strategy 3: Promote Internet Adoption. The BDO recognizes that building the physical infrastructure to connect unserved and underserved Texans to broadband is only one component of expanding broadband adoption. Therefore, the BDO will support activities to encourage and support Texans to sign up for and use broadband service as it is made available across the state – benefiting Texans, multiple statewide priorities and the telecom industry through an expanded customer base. BDO plans to:

Continue programs utilizing BEAD, the BOOT Program, and other infrastructure funding.

• Develop partnerships to promote internet enrollment.
• Establish a grant readiness training program.
• Develop state-granted programs to promote internet enrollment. 

Between September 2024 and December 2029, major implementation milestones will include:

• BEAD, BOOT, and other broadband infrastructure programs under development.
• Establishing partnerships with ISPs, community-based organizations, and community anchor institutions to promote internet enrollment.  
• Establishing partnerships with state agencies and organizations to promote the Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).
• Establishing and deploying a grant readiness program.  
• Establishing and deploying a two-year state-led grant program for direct enrollment in low-cost internet.
• Data collection on both programs’ impacts, and assessment and adjustment of the two programs.
• Deploying phase two.
• Data collection on program impacts and continued needs. 

Strategy 4: Maintain a Living Digital Opportunity Plan. The BDO envisions this plan as a living document, to be updated through continued research. The BDO has gathered extensive baseline data, established relationships with stakeholders and residents and gained a firm understanding of the current needs and barriers of Texans statewide – regionally and among covered populations. The BDO aims to build upon this foundation and make this plan a sustainable resource to promote digital opportunity statewide by measuring progress while continuing to collect critical data to enable the state and its local partners to advance and iterate impactful programs. BDO plans to:

• Conduct ongoing engagement and collaboration with stakeholders.
• Maintain a statewide asset inventory; conduct ongoing data measurement with grantees and additional research to improve upon baseline data.
• Evaluate progress against key performance indicators (KPIs); adjust approach as needed.
• Conduct public and organizational surveys to measure progress.

Between January 2024 and December 2030, major implementation milestones will include:

• Continuing to meet with stakeholders in the engagement model and invite them to BDO meetings that discuss digital opportunity.
• Collecting additional research to improve upon baseline data.  
• Developing a statewide asset inventory.
• Collecting data from grantees and partners in implementation and evaluate progress against KPIs. Adjust approach as needed.  
• Conducting additional public and organizational surveys to measure progress. 

The Texas Broadband Development Office Seeks Feedback

The BDO invites the public to submit comments on the draft plan. The public comment period ends on January 5, 2024. BDO suggests that you support your comment with substantive data, facts and opinions. When possible, provide your lived experience in your comment. See the public comment form.

More in this series:

• Florida's Roadmap for Closing the Digital Divide
• A Vision and a Mission for Digital Equity in North Carolina
• Creating Digital Opportunities in Nebraska
• Developing Digital Equity Solutions in Vermont
• Working Towards Digital Equity in DC
• Oregon's Plan for Meaningful Broadband Access
• Massachusetts' Unified Vision of Digital Equity
• Alaska's Plan to Address Broadband Adversity
• Georgia's Plan for Digital Connectivity
• In a New York State of Digital Equity
• A Plan for Digital Equity in Delaware
• Equity for the Digital Age: Maryland's Plan
• North Dakota's Collective Approach to Digital Equity
• A Plan for Connecting New Jersey
• Achieving a Digitally Inclusive Ohio
• A Digital Access Plan for All Idahoans
• Envisioning a Connected, Interconnected Alabama
• Missouri Pursues Sustainable Digital Opportunity Initiatives
• A Digital Equity Plan to Connect All Kansans
• South Dakota's Plan to Leverage Digital Equity to Reach Economic Goals
• Aloha Spirit Inspires Hawai'i Digital Equity Plan
• The Plan for Closing Nevada’s Digital Divide
• Wisconsin's Digital Equity Values
• ¡Su opinión cuenta! Puerto Rico Releases Initial Draft of Digital Equity Plan | ¡Su Opinión Cuenta! Puerto Rico Pública el Borrador Inicial del Plan de Equidad Digital
• Kentucky Pursues Full and Equitable Digital Access for All
• Tennessee Drafts a Digital Opportunity Plan
• Washington State Sets Digital Equity Goals
• West Virginia's Plan to Conquer the Digital Divide
• Rhode Island Works to Bring Broadband to All Residents
• Wyoming Seeks Feedback on Digital Access Plan
• Communities Know Communities Best: Michigan's Digital Equity Plan
• Montana's Digital Opportunity Plan
• Achieving Digital Independence in Utah
• Maine's Vision of Digital Equity
• A Look at Louisiana's Draft Digital Equity Plan

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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