New Mexico First to Replace Federal Broadband Subsidy
$10 million program takes effect Wednesday, with potential to expand to $45 million annually.
May 19, 2026 – New Mexico became the first state to replace a lapsed federal broadband subsidy program, the state's broadband office said Saturday.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 152 on March 5, establishing the Low-Income Telecommunications Assistance Program and authorizing $10 million in broadband funding to help low-income households pay for internet service. The law takes effect Wednesday.
The federal ACP expired in April 2024 after Congress did not approve additional funding, ending monthly discounts of $30 per household, or $75 for tribal families, for more than 180,000 New Mexico households and leaving low-income families without federal support to pay for internet service.
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The new state program, funded through the State Rural Universal Service Fund and administered by the Public Regulation Commission, is expected to help as many as 27,000 low-income families in its first year.
The law allows funding to expand to $45 million annually, potentially reaching more than 100,000 households. Over 10 years, more than $400 million could be designated to help New Mexicans pay for high-speed internet.
New Mexico has secured nearly $900 million in combined state and federal broadband funding since 2022, including $675 million from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.
"New Mexico has fully-funded project commitments in place to reach every one of the state’s 850,000 homes, businesses and other serviceable locations — a path to 100% connectivity," wrote Jeff Lopez, director of the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion, in an op-ed published Saturday by the Santa Fe New Mexican.
The BEAD funding supports 31 infrastructure projects across 32 of the state's 33 counties, connecting approximately 42,500 unserved or underserved locations through fiber, fixed wireless, low-Earth orbit satellite, and other technologies.
The Navajo Nation received $111 million in BEAD funding, the largest single award issued by the state’s broadband office, to connect more than 11,000 tribal members.
The state is pursuing a multi-pronged effort as it moves to achieve universal access by 2029. The state broadband office launched a statewide digital navigator program Thursday.
New Mexico’s Student Connect program, meanwhile, has connected more than 4,500 rural students lacking reliable home internet, while its Community Connect program is expanding public Wi-Fi at historic sites in rural areas.
