First New Mexico Broadband Office Project Reaches 100% Completion

The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) announced that a landmark broadband infrastructure project in a remote subdivision in Chaves County (NM) is complete, providing high-speed internet to 52 rural homes in the Cherry Decker subdivision near the community of Hagerman. With the project completed, these residents can now sign up for high-speed internet service. The Chaves County project is OBAE’s first grant project to reach 100 percent completion and the first Connect New Mexico Pilot Program project funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Capital Projects Fund to reach the final stage. In 2023, OBAE awarded Artesia, New Mexico-based Penasco Valley Telephone Cooperative (PVT) an ARPA grant of $487,000. Construction includes nearly 11 miles of pole-attached aerial fiber to the rural residences. With matching PVT funds, the broadband project’s total budget was $649,000.