State broadband office awards $13.5 million in grants

ALBUQUERQUE–Today, the Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) announced it's awarded $13,533,086 in Student Connect grants to two internet service providers and a pueblo to help furnish rural students and school staff with high-speed internet access.

OBAE issued seven awards: Resound Networks, based in Pampa, TX, received five grants totaling $8,984,086, and Oso Internet Solutions, based in Ramah, NM, received $2,499,000. Ohkay Owingeh, formerly the San Juan Pueblo, was awarded $2,050,000.

The awards mean 38,482 remote student households in hard-to-reach areas in Doña
Ana, Catron, Cibola, Rio Arriba and Valencia counties will receive high-speed internet.

While rural schools have broadband, there is often no high-speed connection for students and others once they return home. Student Connect funds are targeting that problem by establishing fixed wireless broadband. The grants will be used to construct towers, build fixed wireless service and provide receivers for the designated student homes.

"These Student Connect funds will be life-changing for many students living in remote areas who leave the digital world once they return home," said OBAE Acting Director Drew Lovelace. "This vital connection will help them succeed in school and beyond."
The state money comes from OBAE's Connect New Mexico Fund. The Legislature appropriated $25 million designated for public school projects, and OBAE created Student Connect, an assistance program specifically designed to bring broadband to rural students and school staff.

The three awardees will work with the following school districts to deploy broadband services:

Belen Consolidated Schools
Gadsden Independent School District
Grants Cibola County Schools
Hatch Valley Public Schools
Los Lunas Public Schools
Ohkay Owingeh Community School
Quemado Independent School District

The Student Connect fixed wireless projects are expected to be completed within six months. Students and school staff participating in the program will also get three years of free internet.

There is still more than $11.4 million available in Student Connect awards, and OBAE encourages applications. Schools and internet service providers that partner with schools can submit applications. OBAE will approve those that meet certain criteria. The application process doesn't have a deadline, but all projects must be completed by June 30, 2025.

Aside from Student Connect grants, the Connect New Mexico Fund had also secured $70 million for general broadband infrastructure and $5 million for broadband grant writing, engineering and planning.

The Connect New Mexico Fund was established in 2021 by the Legislature through the Connect New Mexico Act.