A year ago, the Biden administration announced that New Mexico would get $675 million to expand broadband access from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Development (BEAD) program.
On Friday, New Mexico's initial plan for how to spend the millions was approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, so the state can move forward to request and pick subgrant recipients for the money.
BEAD is a $42.4 billion state grant program authorized by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The program's goal is to connect everyone in America with high-speed Internet services, said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. He complimented New Mexico on its "sophisticated and high quality plan."
"Broadband is not a luxury. It is a necessity," said New Mexico Infrastructure Adviser Rebecca Roose.
High-speed Internet access is crucial for access to telehealth, mental health services, distance learning, government services and allowing businesses to thrive, Roose said.
WHERE IS INTERNET SLOW IN N.M.?
Most of the communities in New Mexico with poor Internet access are rural or tribal, and they can be found all over the state, said Roose.
There is a lot of work needed to make broadband possible in the western part of the state, especially, said Drew Lovelace, acting director of the state Office of Broadband Access and Expansion.
"You really don't have to go very far outside of an urban area to find places where there's real need for better broadband, and even sometimes within more densely populated areas, even within urban areas, we find these broadband deserts with a lack of connectivity," said Davidson.
MEANWHILE, AN INTERNET SUBSIDY SUNSETS
Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband, said he is proud of the historic federal investment to connect New Mexico, but highlighted Congress' failure to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provided discounts for Internet service and some technology purchases to qualifying households. The federal program expired in June.
"The failure to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program threatens to dilute the impact of (BEAD) funding," Luján said. "It is imperative that we reinstate this vital program. While this funding represents significant progress toward 100% connectivity, there remains an ongoing need for next-generation technology to support rural areas, low-income communities, schools, and libraries."
N.M.'S NEXT STEPS ON BROADBAND
The state will have to submit a final proposal for the BEAD program within a year. That proposal will need to detail the subgrantees and strategies for delivering broadband to unserved and underserved locations. NTIA defines unserved and underserved as people who do not have minimum broadband speeds of 100 megabits per second download and 20 megabits per second upload.
The NTIA will have to approve New Mexico's final proposal in 2025 before the federal dollars can be used to build broadband infrastructure.
The state is stacking state and federal dollars, Roose said, and will announce up to $70 million in state-funded broadband projects over the coming weeks.
©2024 the Albuquerque Journal, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
