Two towers providing mobile broadband and data services to rural areas on a stormy day. (Photo via Getty Images)
While people wait for new high-speed internet to be installed along power lines or underground, New Mexico’s Broadband Agency wants to use public funds to cover some of the costs of getting high-speed internet from space.
The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion asked the Legislative Finance Committee Tuesday for $70 million to help cover the cost of connecting to high-speed satellite internet. The committee makes budget recommendations to the full Legislature.
About 95,000 households in New Mexico are either too remote to receive high-speed internet or don’t have the money to pay for it, said Drew Lovelace, acting director of the broadband office.
That includes parts of Albuquerque, as well as more mountainous or remote areas in the eastern and western parts of the state, Lovelace said.
Over a five-year period, as high-speed Internet lines are built, the money could pay for a $600 satellite receiver to connect, along with $30 for the total monthly bill of $120. The program is called Accelerate Connect New Mexico.
The only satellite Internet provider on the market that currently has satellites close enough to the Earth’s surface to deliver high-speed Internet is Starlink, Lovelace said. There are other companies with satellites further out in space, but as far as he knows none of them offer a fast enough connection speed.
Starlink is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, who has been ticked by newly elected President Donald Trump to lead an as-yet-undefined commission to review government spending.
Senator Benny Shendo (D-Jemez) asked Lovelace what he thought could change with the new presidential administration, especially since Starlink “used to be at the forefront of these conversations.”
Lovelace responded in part by saying that federal money for high-speed internet is already owed to the state of New Mexico, and it would take an act of Congress to change that.
“There’s a lot we can think about and prepare for. What’s fun about thinking about infrastructure is that whether you have an R or a D after your name, if you don’t have connectivity, you want connectivity” , Lovelace said.
Lovelace said that according to data Starlink shared with his office, there are only about 200 places in New Mexico that can’t get satellite coverage. For example, he said, those places may be too deep in a valley for the signal to reach.
If the Legislative Finance Committee includes the requested money in the state budget for fiscal year 2026, and lawmakers vote to approve the budget, the money would become available to the agency in July 2025.
Lovelace said it would take another six months to hire a high-speed internet provider and actually launch the program.
