[1st-mile-nm] Broadband Census Report on NM

[Richard Lowenberg]

http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=549

New Mexico Infrastructure Report Fails to Incorporate Broadband Access

Broadband Census New Mexico
By Drew Bennett, Special Correspondent, BroadbandCensus.com

This is the tenth of a series of articles surveying the state of broadband, and
broadband data, within each of the United States. Among the next profiles:
Arizona, Nevada and Utah.


August 29 ? As with other states seeking to promote the availability of
high-speed internet access in a broadband-centered world, New Mexico is
struggling just to keep up.

Despite boasting one of the world?s premier centers for science and research
at Los Alamos National Laboratory and experiencing a recent population boom,
New Mexico remains far behind the rest of the country in broadband and digital
deployment. According to a report by the Kauffman Foundation and the
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, the state ranks 46th in
percentage of internet users, 49th in e-government, and 36th in broadband
telecommunications.

New Mexico?s deficit in broadband infrastructure is particularly glaring.
According to Federal Communications Commission statistics, only 78% of New
Mexicans have access to digital subscriber line (DSL) service and only 77% have
access to cable modem service ? well below the national averages of 82% and
96%, respectively.

And the quality of service received when broadband connectivity is available is
15% slower than the national average, according to the Communications Workers
of America?s Speed Matters web site.

In capital Santa Fe, policy-makers are beginning to focus on the state broadband
situation. In 2006, Governor Bill Richardson appointed Thomas Bowles as his
science and technology adviser, stating that ?New Mexico is becoming a
national leader in the high tech field and Tom Bowles will help further this
progress.?

Sources close to Bowles say that the technology advisor seeks to drive
innovation through technology, and that he understands the importance of
improving broadband infrastructure as a part of this agenda, yet two years
later the state has yet to produce a strategy for improving broadband
connectivity.

?New Mexico has an opportunity to set national examples when it comes to
broadband networks,? said Richard Lowenberg, a broadband expert and state
consultant. Lowenberg is a long-time advocate for high-speed, open fiber
networks who has worked with Japanese broadband officials. Japanese broadband
has been noted for offering particularly high speeds at low costs.

There are multiple initiatives throughout New Mexico to develop municipal
broadband wireless networks, community fiber networks, and funding through
Department of Agriculture and its Rural Utility Service. These grants deliver
broadband to rural areas and to Navajo and Pueblo reservations. Lowenberg
believes that a comprehensive plan that integrates and builds on these efforts
is what is now needed.

?The key is an economic model that aggregates demand, integrates systems like
energy systems, and seeks out applications that help pay for these networks so
that they can reach everybody,? Lowenberg said.

Besides telecommunications carriers, energy utilities, railroads, highway
authorities and backbone data infrastructure providers should all be involved
in a state broadband policy, said Lowenberg. Any broadband mapping project
would need to consider all possible infrastructure that could be utilized in a
state-wide effort to expand and enhance broadband services.

Lowenberg would like to see New Mexico ?work towards a comprehensive
infrastructure that gets us to where we want to be in 10 years.?

Governor Richardson has developed a plan, dubbed Invest New Mexico, to offer
solutions to New Mexico?s ?perfect storm of infrastructure problems.?
However, the 55-page Invest New Mexico report fails to consider and integrate
improvements in broadband infrastructure as part of the state-wide plan.

The Invest New Mexico initiative asks ?what infrastructure can we invest in to
expand our economy?? Yet the answers that it poses have nothing to do with the
potential that many others see in deploying faster and better broadband
infrastructure.


-- 
Richard Lowenberg
1st-Mile Institute
P.O. Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-989-9110;   505-603-5200 cell
rl at 1st-mile.com  www.1st-mile.com

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