New Mexico Official Wants $70 Million for Satellite Broadband

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2024 – State support for satellite Internet service to connect the unserved continues to grow.

New Mexico’s Office of Broadband Access and Expansion has requested that the state’s Legislative Finance Committee provide $70 million to expand high-speed internet access by way of satellite.

“We must look to the future while working hard to meet connectivity needs today,” OBAE Acting Director Drew Lovelace said in a Monday statement. “It can take years to build scalable and sustainable high-speed internet in our state with so many challenges and federal requirements. We need long-term funding to properly assess the best ways to make broadband accessible throughout New Mexico.”

The $70 million investment would be routed through the Accelerate Connect NM initiative to about 95,000 unserved and underserved locations statewide at a cost of about $736 per location. New Mexico's proposal would include monthly subsidies for low-income households to make their satellite service bill more affordable.

New Mexico did not mention Elon Musk’s Starlink by name in its statement. Starlink rivals include HughesNet, ViaSat and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, which plans to launch its constellation of more than 3,200 low Earth orbit satellites starting in early 2025.

The state broadband office said it was creating a satellite voucher program, though it did not say whether customers would pay for the equipment and then be reimbursed or if the state would accept applications and then pay the provider from its own revenues.

The state OBAE PR Coordinator Mike Curtis did not provide Broadband Breakfast with information about the voucher program.

Support for satellite internet coverage has been building. Ontario, Canada, entered a $100 million deal for Starlink to provide free terminals to 15,000 locations. Maine is planning to provide residents in 9,000 locations with free Starlink terminals.