New Mexico Broadband Director Talks Bid-Worthy Project Areas, Technology Mix

Many state broadband directors are keeping their fingers crossed that all the areas eligible for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program rural broadband funding receive bids. But it’s a particularly big challenge for New Mexico, as the state’s broadband director Drew Lovelace explained. “New Mexico hits a trifecta of challenges in geography, size, and rurality. A lot of states have one or two of these, we have all three,” said Lovelace. New Mexico is the fifth largest state in land mass, but only 36th in population. Additionally, the state features diverse geographies that include canyons, rocky terrain, and eastern plains, among other challenges. Lovelace has real concerns that some areas of the state are so rural that they may not receive bids in the BEAD program. As such, he’s engaged with providers now to try to avoid that.