New Mexico WISP Fears Overbuilding
The state posted its tentative BEAD winners this week.
WASHINGTON, August 27, 2025 – A wireless ISP in New Mexico says it’s worried it will be overbuilt by projects funded under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.
The company, NMSurf, said in a statement it wasn’t able to meet deadlines to submit technical information proving that it provided the coverage it reported to the Federal Communications Commission.
WISPA, the trade group representing small and wireless ISPs, has raised the issue before, saying the process was often too burdensome for small providers and asking the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to step in. The group was hoping for as much of its members' footprints as possible to be made ineligible for BEAD funding.
The verification process took place in June, and states like New Mexico have already finished selecting bidders and are getting ready to submit their spending plans to NTIA, but the company is still looking to avoid projects breaking ground in its footprint.
“NTIA must prevent wasteful overbuilding and ensure that veteran-owned providers like NMSurf are not disadvantaged by unrealistic procedural requirements,” Albert Catanach, company’s founder and CEO said in a statement. “The FCC maps already prove where service exists – they should be used as the standard.”
In June, when the Trump administration handed down new rules for the $42.45 billion BEAD program, it required states to provide WISPs using unlicensed spectrum the chance to prove their coverage and have their footprints deemed ineligible. Areas served only by unlicensed fixed wireless (ULFW) had been deemed eligible for BEAD funding under the Biden administration because of interference concerns, and ULFW providers were excluded from the coverage verification process that states undertook for the program.
Under the new guidance, states had to give ULFW providers that claimed coverage to the FCC one week to submit evidence that they provided the speeds they claimed and could adequately mitigate interference. Although FCC data suggested some states could see large reductions in eligible locations, that largely didn’t materialize.
“NMSurf, like many small providers, was unable to complete this unnecessary and burdensome process,” the company said. The WISP provides wireless broadband in the Albuquerque and Sana Fe area, plus fiber in some parts of Santa Fe.
Elon Musk’s satellite company SpaceX has also asked NTIA to block two state plans, drafts published by Virginia and Louisiana, that it says should have resulted in the company getting a larger share of the eligible locations.
New Street Research analyst Blair Levin has said it’s not clear the agency is eager to make major changes to states that have published drafts of those plans for public comment. While the agency hasn’t formally approved any state plans, the agency is in regular contact with state broadband offices, and states have to review their final project selections with NTIA before posting them publicly.
Meanwhile, states are marching ahead and finalizing their project selections after an additional round of bidding mandated by the Trump administration, rushing to meet a Sept.4 deadline to submit their BEAD spending plans to NTIA. The agency has said it would review and approve those plans by the end of the year.
New Mexico’s BEAD proposal would get fiber to 44 percent of its eligible homes and businesses, including parts of Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
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