The Texas House Subcommittee on Telecommunications & Broadband will gavel in at 11 a.m. Aug. 18 to take invited and public testimony on three interim charges: monitoring the state’s Broadband Development Office and its multibillion-dollar grant programs, studying pole attachment fees as a barrier to broadband deployment, and exploring public-private partnerships for wireless first responder networks.
Written comments can be submitted online until adjournment through the House comment portal, according to the revised hearing notice.
Chaired by Rep. Rafael Anchía, D–Dallas, with Rep. Will Metcalf, R–Conroe, as vice chair, the five-member subcommittee of the House State Affairs Committee — three Republicans and two Democrats — meets in Room E2.014 of the Capitol Extension. The hearing lands at a charged moment for the Broadband Development Office, housed in the comptroller’s office: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows called in July for an audit of how the office is distributing more than $5 billion in state and federal broadband dollars. The office has said the audit is already underway, with no completion date announced, KPRC reported.
The broadband development charge directs members to review awards under the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program and the state’s Broadband Infrastructure Fund. Texas received the nation’s largest BEAD allocation, $3.3 billion, in 2023; after the federal government overhauled the program last year, the office’s final proposal approved in November would award about $1.3 billion to connect nearly 243,000 unserved and underserved homes, businesses and community anchor institutions. Some lawmakers have since accused the office of favoring satellite providers in that process. The Broadband Infrastructure Fund, a $1.5 billion state fund voters approved as Proposition 8 in 2023, supplies state matching money alongside the federal program.
The pole attachment charge asks members to study whether the fees broadband providers pay to attach lines to utility poles — and other impediments — are slowing deployment, and to evaluate a standardized pricing model that balances providers’ costs against the interests of pole owners and electric reliability. The state already runs a Texas Broadband Pole Replacement Program, created under Chapter 253 of the Utilities Code, which made its first awards in late 2024 to defray the cost of replacing poles for rural broadband projects.
The final charge explores the efficacy of public-private partnerships for wireless first responder networks — the dedicated communications systems police, fire and EMS agencies rely on during emergencies, according to the notice.
Because this is an interim hearing, the subcommittee will take no votes on legislation. Its findings will flow into the State Affairs Committee’s interim report and any broadband legislation filed in the 90th Legislature, which convenes in January 2027 — when Patrick and Burrows have said they intend to act on the audit’s results.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 11:00 AM CT, Tuesday, August 18, 2026
- Where
- Room E2.014, Capitol Extension, Austin
- Chair
- Rep. Rafael Anchía, D–Dallas (HD-103)
- Vice Chair
- Rep. Will Metcalf, R–Conroe (HD-16)
- Format
- Invited and public testimony; interim charges only — no vote on legislation. Notice is a revision — check the agenda link for the current version
- Live video
- house.texas.gov/video-audio
- Submit comments online
- comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c452 (until adjournment)
- Full agenda
- Official hearing notice (capitol.texas.gov)
Committee members
- Rep. Rafael Anchía, D–Dallas (HD-103) — Chair
- Rep. Will Metcalf, R–Conroe (HD-16) — Vice Chair
- Rep. Ana Hernandez, D–Houston (HD-143)
- Rep. Lacey Hull, R–Houston (HD-138)
- Rep. John W. McQueeney, R–Fort Worth (HD-97)