[1st-mile-nm] N.M.’S Daunting Digital Divide

Sun Feb 24 09:40:41 PST 2013

Here's today's article from the ABQ Journal.
Log on to the link below for the entire story and images.
RL

-----

N.M.’S Daunting Digital Divide

By Kevin Robinson-Avila / Journal Staff Writer on Sun, Feb 24, 2013

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/02/24/biz/highspeed-broadband-extension-moves-at-a-dialup-pace-in-states-vast-rural-areas.html

A wireless broadband tower in Bernalillo. The expense of running fiber 
optic cables in remote areas may mean more reliance on wireless 
technology to provide high-speed Internet access in many rural zones.

Rural New Mexico has benefited from roughly $400 million in broadband 
development in recent years, but the state still faces a huge digital 
divide.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, New Mexico received 
more than $200 million in federal stimulus funding to extend high-speed 
Internet in rural areas.

If matching dollars from telephone companies that won stimulus grants 
are included, plus development loans from the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service, broadband investments in the past 
five years surpass $400 million, according to the state Department of 
Information Technology.

But many of New Mexico’s rural zones still have no Internet coverage, 
and many that do are still using dial-up modems, or aging digital 
subscriber line (DSL) technology, said USDA Rural Development State 
Director Terry Brunner.

“We have a long way to go nationally in developing broadband, but New 
Mexico is further behind than other states,” Brunner said. “New Mexico 
has some of the slowest speeds in the nation, and in the West for sure.”

For consumers, that creates a huge dichotomy in quality of life between 
urban and rural residents. While city dwellers have access to the latest 
in communications capability — from streaming video on smartphones and 
laptops to remote control of home thermostats and electric appliances — 
many families in New Mexico’s vast expanses remain strapped to 20th 
century technology.

That’s a critical impediment to economic stability.

“If local businesses, large or small, are going to compete nationally 
and internationally, they need Internet access with acceptable speeds,” 
Brunner said. “Whatever industry they’re in, whether it’s tourism, 
manufacturing or auto repair, companies need to be able to transact 
business electronically. It’s key to economic development in New 
Mexico.”

It’s also key to individual progress, because online access can provide 
rural New Mexicans with educational opportunities, health care and other 
services that may be difficult to get otherwise.

“If we don’t provide communications in rural areas that are as good as 
in the cities, we’ll continue to see the rural-to-urban migration we’ve 
experienced for years,” said Charlie Ferrell, executive director of the 
New Mexico Exchange Carriers Group, which represents 11 rural telephone 
cooperatives.

New Mexico faces more hurdles than many other states in building remote 
connectivity because of its vast rural nature. The Exchange Carriers 
Group, for example, provides telecommunications service to 77,000 square 
miles of territory, with an average of 2.2 customers per mile.

Such broad distances and low population densities make digital 
infrastructure very expensive to install, preventing many commercial 
providers from laying fiber optics or other broadband technology without 
government assistance.

“New Mexico still has a digital divide because in some areas it’s just 
so hard to go through mountains or rock formations, and then you get to 
the end of the route and find there just aren’t enough homes and 
businesses to pay for the construction,” said Valerie Dodd, CenturyLink 
Inc.’s vice president and general manager for New Mexico.

In addition, poverty and a lack of understanding about the benefits of 
Internet access often discourage many rural residents from paying for 
services even when broadband is available.

As a result, New Mexico ranked 46th in the nation for broadband use in 
the 2010 U.S. census. Only 53 percent of residents here said they access 
broadband at home, compared with 80 percent nationally.

Stimulus funds did make a dent in the digital divide. Thanks to federal 
assistance, members of the Exchange Carriers Group doubled the amount of 
fiber optics in the ground from 3,000 to 6,000 miles.

“In most cases, about 95 percent of customers can now get coverage if 
they want it, so they (the companies) have moved the bar up somewhat,” 
Ferrell said.

Some providers got funding for very large projects. Kit Carson Electric 
Cooperative received a $44 million grant and a $19 million loan to 
create a 2,400-mile broadband network to connect about 20,500 
households, 3,600 businesses and 183 “anchor” institutions, such as 
schools and health clinics.

But a lot of needs remain unfulfilled. ENMR-Plateau Telecommunications 
in Clovis, for example, received $39 million in grants and loans for 
more infrastructure in its service area, allowing up to 100 percent 
coverage in some towns and villages. But services are still limited in 
many outlying areas, said Chief Technology and Network Officer Buddy 
Vaughan.

“We have 25,000 square miles to cover,” Vaughan said. “About seven 
years ago, we estimated it would take more than $300 million to get 
broadband to all our members. It’s less now, because technology has 
advanced more and become cheaper, but construction costs don’t come 
down, and that’s the biggest expense in getting fiber in the ground.”

Peñasco Valley Telephone Cooperative and Leaco Rural Telephone 
Cooperative received a combined $56 million in loans and assistance for 
broadband infrastructure. But both companies still have many territorial 
pockets without coverage that might only be served in the future through 
wireless technologies, which are slower and less reliable than fiber.

“We’re working to get (fourth generation) wireless solutions for many 
remaining customers, because it’s impossible to build fiber to every 
rural area,” said Leaco CEO Laura Angell.

Peñasco added about 200 miles of fiber with federal assistance, but 
with an average of less than one customer per mile in its 
4,700-square-mile territory, it could cost up to $150 million to lay 
fiber for everybody, said CEO Glenn Lovelace.

In addition, the company faces much red tape.

“We have to deal with many government regulations that make the job 
difficult, such of right-of-way issues,” Lovelace said. “On one project, 
it took us 12 years to get the highway permit to lay fiber from Hondo to 
Lincoln.”

Even endangered species protection can adds costs to laying fiber.

“We have to put ‘lizard ladders’ in every open trench,” Lovelace said. 
“The dune sagebrush lizard has a limited number of scales under its 
armpits, and if we’re in protected zones, we have to put two-by-fours in 
the ditches so if any of those little fellows fall into the ditch, they 
can climb out.”

Federal money continues to flow to New Mexico. The Federal 
Communications Commission awarded $2.3 million last summer to 
CenturyLink and Windstream Communications to extend broadband access in 
rural areas. And, in December, it approved $15.4 million for the 
University of New Mexico’s Center for Telehealth, San Juan Regional 
Medical Center and Presbyterian Healthcare Systems to jointly build a 
rural telehealth broadband network.

Still, experts say high-speed Internet access is moving at a dial-up 
pace in New Mexico.

“I don’t think we’re anywhere near where we need to be,” said Richard 
Lowenberg, executive director of the First Mile Institute in Santa Fe. 
“We still have gaping holes with many underserved areas.”

Gar Clarke, broadband program director at the Department of Information 
Technology, said an online mapping program financed with $4.7 million in 
stimulus funds has allowed the government to build the state’s first 
public, interactive website that details technology availability 
geographically. That will help plan more broadband extension projects in 
critical zones.

“It will help focus our energy,” Clarke said. “We’ll look at existing 
conditions to determine future needs to then get funding and move 
forward.”

The USDA’s Brunner said that’s an important step.

“There needs to be leadership from folks at the state level to 
determine needs and create targeted areas for investment,” he said. “The 
USDA would be happy to meet some of those funding needs.”

----------------------------------
Richard Lowenberg, Executive Dir.
1st-Mile Institute, 505-603-5200
P.O.Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
www.1st-mile.com  rl at 1st-mile.com
----------------------------------