Almost a dozen New Mexico firms are launching a new fiber business.
Called NM Fiber Network LLC, the new company intends to build a multi-million-dollar network across the state to improve internet access. A total of 11 firms came together to form the new company, including Sacred Wind Communications, which announced the new company.
Other founding partners include: Dell Telephone Cooperative Inc.; ENMR Telephone Cooperative; Baca Valley Telephone Company Inc.; Leaco Rural Telephone Cooperative Inc.; La Jicarita Rural Telephone Cooperative; Peñasco Valley Telephone Cooperative Inc.; Tularosa Communications Inc.; Western New Mexico Telephone Company Inc.; Valley Telephone Cooperative Inc.; and Roosevelt County Rural Telephone Cooperative Inc.
NM Fiber Network will provide fiber-optic capabilities to telecom providers and business customers and will partner with Overland Park, Kansas-based fiber firm INDATEL.
The announcement comes at a high-stakes time for broadband stakeholders, particularly agencies gearing up for billions of dollars worth of disbursements set to be made under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program later this year. The program was formed as part of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and allocates $42.45 billion for deployment, mapping and adoption of broadband, according to the federal BroadbandUSA agency.
“This is a once in a lifetime, really, opportunity for us to get together and [put] our networks together,” said NM Fiber chairman Glenn Lovelace.
And for making certain network changes, such as filling in coverage gaps, NM Fiber could apply for BEAD alongside the state and “hopefully get a large chunk of the cost covered,” according to Lovelace.
For Sacred Wind, the announcement comes shortly after another recently unveiled project. The project by Sacred Wind affiliate SW DinehNet will bring broadband service to residents of the northwestern New Mexico city of Yatahey.
