[1st-mile-nm] First Post

[Harris, Gary, DCA]

Greetings-
 
I am always anxious to read the commentary and thoughtful postings on this list. I am a librarian and technologist who wants to see to it that New Mexicans have access to a statewide broadband network that runs on a statewide backbone. Whether the circuits are leased, owned or otherwise made available through local arrangements, I believe the infrastructure needs to be managed from a central, non-telco, entity. 
 
I am relatively new to the state. I lived and worked in New Mexico in the late 70s. I attended UNM briefly during the same period. Since that time, I have visited the state many times, usual on an annual basis. For the past decade, I was employed by the University of Missouri System. While there, I was part of a team that helped to build a statewide resource sharing network for virtually every academic library in the state. While the project had a positive outcome, it could not have been undertaken or accomplished without the assistance of an organization called MOREnet (and the financial support of the state).
 
MOREnet is, for lack of a better term, a super ISP, affiliated with the UM System. The organization works with telcos and others to supply broadband connectivity to institutions of higher education (public and private), schools (K-12), and libraries throughout the state. The result of this effort is a high speed in-state backbone that is managed by MOREnet staff up to the hundreds of routers that terminate at the various participating institutions. Institutions pay for this advanced connectivity, but at a price that is usually less than they could afford to pay on their own. The state also contributes significant dollars to the enterprise.
 
Sorry for the long note, but I cannot help but wonder why we cannot do something similar in New Mexico. I know it works, and with a few tweaks here and there, I think the concept described above could be expanded to go the 1st Mile in NM.
 
I am not a telecommunications expert or a networking guru, so please forgive my ignorance, but I know success when I see it. For those of you out there who may already know this story, I apologize for retelling here. My intent (as a newbie) is to find out more about what all of you think we can do to help the people of NM.
 
For more information on what I am writing about, see the following sites:
 
http://www.more.net/about/index.html
http://mobius.missouri.edu
 
Gary L. Harris
 
 
 
 


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