[1st-mile-nm] Sacred Wind gets $13.8M loan for internet improvements

[Richard Lowenberg]

Sacred Wind gets $13.8M loan for internet improvements

Thursday, March 17, 2016 |

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico telecommunications company is 
getting a $13.8 million loan from the federal government to improve 
internet service.

Members of the state's congressional delegation announced the loan for 
Sacred Wind Communications (today).

The low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural 
Utilities Service is being awarded under a program that aims to improve 
infrastructure in underserved tribal communities.

With the money, Sacred Wind plans to extend fiber optic cable from 
Gallup to the Navajo community of To'hajiilee west of Albuquerque.

The project will take three years to complete.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall said extending the cable will open new opportunities 
for education, health care and business. Right now, he says only one in 
five people living on tribal land in New Mexico have access to wired 
broadband.



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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
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