$100M heading to rural NM for high-speed internet - Albuquerque Journal

A wireless broadband operation is seen present successful Bernalillo. A caller $100M backing boost aims to instrumentality high-speed net to agrarian New Mexico.

Copyright © 2022 Albuquerque Journal

Over $100 cardinal volition commencement flowing into agrarian New Mexico for a monolithic effort aimed astatine boosting the availability of high-speed net successful the state.

The wealth was included successful an infrastructure bill. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., traveled to Abiquiú Elementary connected Monday to denote that Rio Arriba County volition person $23.6 cardinal for a broadband project.

“It’s going to bash precisely what we wanted to hap erstwhile we passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. And that is to marque definite that we are taking net to the communities, to the businesses, to the farmers and to the schools that request it,” Leger Fernández said. “Because, without broadband, you are nary longer portion of the economy. You’re nary longer portion of the acquisition system.”

Lawmakers included $65 cardinal successful the infrastructure instrumentality to grow affordable, high-speed net crossed the U.S.

A spokesperson for Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said New Mexico volition person much than $100 cardinal for broadband projects. Those projects include:

• $23.6 cardinal for Kit Carson Electric Cooperative Inc. for a web that connects 2,693 people, 42 businesses, 34 farms and 8 acquisition facilities to high-speed net successful Rio Arriba County.

• $25 cardinal for Leaco Rural Telephone Cooperative Inc. to deploy a web to link 2,970 radical and 56 businesses to high-speed net successful Chaves and Lea counties.

• Nearly $35 cardinal for Western New Mexico Telephone Company Inc. to physique a web that connects 678 people, 10 businesses and a workplace to high-speed net successful Catron, Grant and Hidalgo counties.

• $25 cardinal for WNM Communications Corporation for a web that connects 3,093 people, 30 businesses, 5 farms and 4 acquisition facilities to the net successful Grant and Luna counties.

That’s a full of implicit $108 cardinal that volition beryllium awarded to the 4 New Mexico-based companies. The wealth volition travel done the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Reconnect Loan and Grant Program.

BroadbandNow, an manufacture website, said that 80.8% of New Mexico residents person entree to 100Mbps broadband, ranking the authorities 43rd successful the country.

“It’s a large usage of nationalist wealth due to the fact that we cannot person an America that grows unneurotic if we bash not person an America that has adjacent entree to the basal foundations you request successful an system and successful education,” Leger Fernández said. “That is simply due to the fact that we privation everybody successful America to person the aforesaid quality to succeed, careless of whether you unrecorded successful Chattanooga oregon Abiquiú.”