According to a news release from the Office of Broadband Access and Expansion, the state will use the grants to build and expand broadband infrastructure in New Mexico as a part an ambitious project intended to widen internet access in a state that includes its share of rural areas with gaps in broadband service.
"It's exciting because it puts a lot of money toward making sure there is reliable broadband connectivity for New Mexicans," said Drew Lovelace, acting director of the state's Office of Broadband Access and Expansion.
The office announced Tuesday the federal government has approved the results of its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment project, enabling the office to publish the map of areas where prospective applicants can bid for funding.
The project will fund internet deployment — primarily fiber-optic internet — for populations across the state that are currently "unserved" or "underserved" according to federal guidelines. About 95% of Santa Fe County is served, according to an online map at maps.connect.nm.gov.
With the results cleared by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the office will soon begin the competitive selection process to award grants to applicants for the unserved and underserved areas that the project will focus on, according to a news release.
Prequalified internet service providers, tribal entities, nonprofits, cooperatives and other organizations can all apply for Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment grants. Formal applications will start Jan. 3.
By 2029, unserved communities all over New Mexico will be connected to reliable, high-speed internet and able to access everything that now happens online, Lovelace said in a previous interview.
"Infrastructure takes a long time to build and we just want to make people aware," Lovelace said. "A lot of these programs, including BEAD, run for multiple years, four and five years, and so even though there [are] a lot of announcements and we're pushing forward to get bids to get the services out there, it can still take years to get the permitting and it can still take several years of construction to get to somebody's home."
New Mexico has become the 25th state to be approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, according to the news release.
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