New Mexico Awards Disaster Grants to Restore Broadband

Broadband grant awards are usually made for expanded or improved service, but recently, the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) awarded more than $1.25 million in disaster grants to restore high-speed broadband services in Lincoln County for communities hit by wildfires and flooding. The state’s $117 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation, designed to help with broadband access, will provide Penasco Valley Telephone Cooperative with $1 million and TDS Telecom with $251,300 through the New Mexico Connectivity to Declared Disaster Areas Grants program. The broadband providers will use their grants to replace and repair broadband infrastructure in Lincoln County (NM), which has been devastated by wildfires and the resulting flooding during the past year.