New Mexico Still Searching for New Broadband Director
Governor says the state is moving in a ‘different direction’
June 10, 2025 – New Mexico is still without a permanent director for its Office of Broadband Access and Expansion following the departure of former acting director Drew Lovelace.
Lovelace, who had served as acting director since September 2023, left the department on May 30, and seemed set to return to his prior position as the department’s operations manager.
Instead, it appears that Lovelace has left the OBAE altogether, and no one has been appointed to take his place. In the interim, Department of Information Technology Cabinet Secretary Manny Barreras is serving as the office’s acting director.
The office of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham offered little explanation beyond telling the Albuquerque Journal that the broadband director position is “at-will” and that the administration was “going in a different direction.”
Lovelace’s departure came after he failed to convince the state’s legislature to approve a $70 million plan to connect its residents to the internet via Starlink. The satellite-based telecommunications company has the potential to provide broadband service to remote areas, though it, and its founder Elon Musk, continue to be mired in controversy.
The lack of permanent leadership comes at a critical time for the OBAE. On Friday, Howard Lutnick announced sweeping changes to the BEAD program, requiring states to resubmit their funding applications within 90 days.
Meanwhile, New Mexico’s largest city, Albuquerque, has faced a growing number of resident complaints surrounding construction of a city-wide fiber network. Those complaints culminated in the mayor’s office issuing several stop-work orders to fiber providers.
