[1st-mile-nm] New Mexico has 'no formal plan' for broadband expansion

[Richard Lowenberg]

New Mexico has 'no formal plan' for broadband expansion

Written by Ryan Johnston
NOV 14, 2019 | STATESCOOP

https://statescoop.com/new-mexico-has-no-formal-plan-for-broadband-expansion-report/

Despite investing more than $300 million of state and federal funding to 
increase broadband connectivity over the last four years, New Mexico 
“lags behind” the rest of the nation in adoption due to a decentralized 
broadband governance structure, according to a new report from the New 
Mexico Legislative Finance Committee.

https://www.nmlegis.gov/Entity/LFC/Documents/Program_Evaluation_Reports/Program%20Evaluation%20-%20Funding,%20Oversight,%20and%20Coordination%20of%20Broadband%20Programs.pdf

The report, published Nov. 1, found that New Mexico is tied with 
Arkansas for 49th in the country in broadband adoption rates. And it 
went on to state that the New Mexico’s problem is a bureaucratic one. 
While the state has received hundreds of millions of dollars in funding 
in recent years to connect schools, hospitals and other institutions, it 
doesn’t have a centralized agency that handles broadband financing or 
installation.

Instead, broadband oversight is split among at least four agencies, 
including the Department of Information Technology, the Public School 
Facilities Authority, the state Public Regulations Commission and the 
New Mexico State Library, each of which are tasked with different 
aspects of planning and installation.

The result, according to lawmakers, is that the state has no real 
broadband plan at all.

“Currently, New Mexico does not have formalized goals or a clear, 
unified broadband policy with respect to oversight of programs, funding, 
and infrastructure,” the report says. “This fragmented and uncoordinated 
status quo is a common theme underlying this evaluation’s findings.”

The state houses a broadband office inside DoIT, but the vast majority 
of broadband regulation in the state is codified by statute or informal 
agreements between agencies, rather than overseen by an agency with a 
mission and serving as a single point of contact. Inadequate staffing in 
DoIT’s broadband unit has prevented statewide coordination that would 
unite broadband promotion, ultimately delaying the state’s progress in 
connecting rural healthcare institutions and businesses, the report 
found.

Lawmakers did credit the state government with connecting every public 
school district, thanks to a 2015 program that utilized $49 million in 
state funding and E-Rate matching funds.

Because much of New Mexico is rural, it can be costly to build out 
individual fiber-to-the-home networks seen in other states, state Chief 
Information Officer Vince Martinez said at a recent legislative meeting, 
according to the Associated Press.

“What we are attempting to do is provide broadband to 15 percent to 20 
percent of the population of the state of New Mexico that live in 85 
percent of the land mass,” he said, and noted that fiber optic cable can 
cost as much as $70,000 per mile.

Tyler Cooper of BroadbandNow.com, a website that covers high-speed 
internet deployments, agreed that connectivity problems often require 
innovative solutions.

“It is easy to make bold claims about large scale programs like 
statewide fiber rollouts, but the devil is in the details,” Cooper told 
StateScoop. “All too often, these initiatives get bogged down by funding 
issues, public rights of way processes, and other logistical barriers.”

To offset the costs, the legislative audit recommends that the state 
target cost-effective, last-mile networks in rural areas, rather than 
put money into a large statewide fiber rollout. A designated single 
entity that coordinates broadband funding, policy, initiatives and 
prioritizes unconnected regions should lead future installation, the 
report says, and should be authorized by 2022.

Cooper agreed that a consolidated agency would allow the state more 
flexibility in service delivery.

“I tend to agree with the report findings that New Mexico would be wise 
to consolidate its broadband programs under one agency, allowing it to 
focus on a more comprehensive infrastructure plan that takes into 
account a variety of efficient connection types (5G, fiber, cable, fixed 
wireless), implementing them in a case-by-case basis,” he said.

For now, the state is planning to host broadband workshops in a 
partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration in Albuquerque and the 
city of Truth or Consequences. The workshops are designed to give 
elected officials, including tribal leaders, a look at what federal and 
state resources are available to improve access to devices or 
connectivity.

“Creative, concerted efforts are needed to close the digital divide, 
especially in a state with as much rural land as New Mexico,” Cooper 
said.



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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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