[1st-mile-nm] Baca Valley Telephone Co.: Story

[Richard Lowenberg]

A recent story on the USDA RUS web site,
on stimulus support of BVT.

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http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/STELPRD4021038.html

BACA VALLEY TELEPHONE COMPANY BRINGS BROADBAND TO RURAL NEW MEXICO

June 24, 2013

Need:

Incorporated in 1974, Baca Valley Telephone Company (BVT) received its 
first loan from USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) in 1979. This loan 
funded the construction of a new headquarters facility, burying hundreds 
of miles of cable and installing two new switches in Des Moines and 
Maxwell. BVT has received several Infrastructure Loans from RUS over 
time, totaling over $4.5 million.

BVT wanted to extend a fiber optic network in the rural northeastern 
part of New Mexico. The company wants to meet the need for present and 
future bandwidth requirements by placing fiber to nodes in close 
proximity of the rural subscribers. The funded fiber build-out will 
replaces an old and deteriorating copper plant and low bandwidth 
microwave transport in some areas and provides new connectivity in 
others. With an expected life of 30 years, this fiber will provide a 
solid framework for providing the bandwidth needs of the future.

How Rural Development Helped:

In 2010, BVT received a Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) loan/grant 
combination from RUS. The grant was for $1,586,000 and the loan was for 
$1,651,000. The award funded fiber optic connectivity to a number of new 
cabinets and existing

buildings. In addition, they deployed a last mile access system 
intended to provide broadband services to households and businesses in 
the northeast area of New Mexico

Results:

Today, BVT has a service area covering more than 2,600 square miles. In 
addition to residential service in the Des Moines and Maxwell exchanges, 
they provide cellular service, local Internet access, business telephone 
systems, security systems, and network cabling throughout northeastern 
New Mexico and southeastern Colorado. All construction on the project 
funded through BIP has been completed and their new broadband service is 
in place.

The Des Moines and Maxwell Schools are also enjoying the improved 
broadband service, as are the two Rural Health Care Facilities, located 
at the schools.  One of the goals of this project was to improve overall 
service to the most remote ranches and farms. These new services also 
allow for more children to return home and work on the family farms, 
ranches, and businesses. The addition of new Central Office broadband 
equipment is giving BVT the ability to expand services beyond the 
initial installation.  This summer, they plan to install new fiber optic 
cable and broadband equipment at a Federal Wildlife Refuge near Maxwell, 
New Mexico. The expanded fiber facilities are also able to greatly 
improve bandwidth to many of BVT’s existing remote cabinets and in fact 
replaced several of them with newer, more modern equipment.


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