Two towers providing cellular broadband and data service to rural areas on stormy day. (Photo via Getty Images)
As people wait for new high-speed internet to get installed along power lines or beneath the ground, New Mexico’s broadband agency wants to use public funds to cover some of the cost of getting high-speed internet from space.
The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion on Tuesday asked the Legislative Finance Committee for $70 million to help cover the cost of connecting to satellite high-speed internet. The committee makes budgetary recommendations to the full Legislature.
About 95,000 households in New Mexico are either too remote to receive high-speed internet or do not have the money to pay for it, said Drew Lovelace, the broadband office’s acting director.
Those include parts of Albuquerque but also more mountainous or remote areas in the eastern and western parts of the state, Lovelace said.
Over a five-year period while high-speed internet lines are built, the money would pay for a $600 satellite receiver to get connected, along with $30 toward the $120 total monthly bill. The program is called Accelerate Connect New Mexico.