New Mexico still lagging despite broadband investments

More than $300 million has been funneled to New Mexico in recent years to boost broadband access for schools, hospitals and other institutions, but many rural areas remain unserved, a report says. Legislative analysts outlined their findings in the report for state lawmakers, saying New Mexico lags when it comes to high-speed internet and efforts to address access are disjointed and scattered across multiple agencies. Boosting broadband has been a longstanding challenge for New Mexico. Federal and state officials are hosting workshops in Truth or Consequences and Albuquerque to bring civil leaders and experts together. Federal officials point to census figures that show almost 30% of New Mexico residents have no internet subscription of any type while 55% of residents have a subscription such as fiber, cable or DSL at home. That means nearly half the homes in New Mexico don’t currently benefit from a high-speed broadband connection. Legislative analysts looked at how New Mexico compares to other states and territories and found it trails all but Mississippi and Puerto Rico in household broadband penetration. Two of New Mexico’s neighbors — Utah and Colorado — rank in the top five most connected states while Arizona ranked 14th.