April 2022

Broadband advocates argued that outreach and digital literacy are as important as infrastructure and are necessary to close the digital divide. National Digital Inclusion Alliance Executive Director Angela Siefer explained during a Protocol event April 21 that the government’s considerations need to extend beyond the deployment of physical broadband infrastructure and should be equally focused on addressing digital literacy and adoption efforts in underserved and unserved communities.

Eleven New Mexico telecom and broadband providers are planning a statewide fiber network to be known as NM Fiber Network LLC. The network is a “multi-year, multi-million dollar” undertaking, NM Fiber Network said. Between them, the 11 providers already have thousands of miles of fiber across the state. The project is expected to augment those assets by increasing capacity and improving reliability. The genesis of the NM Fiber Network was in the New Mexico Broadband Initiative Consortium formed by the governor’s office to develop a state broadband roadmap.