Why is your internet so slow? Pandemic aid may help to speed up connections across Southern NM

SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO — When COVID-19 shuttered schools and businesses in March 2020, New Mexicans, like people across the nation, realized quickly that enduring the pandemic would require a much heavier reliance on the internet than ever before.

But residents across southern New Mexico faced all the challenges that come with living in a digitally disconnected region. Swaths of rural areas lack high-speed infrastructure. And many families with access to high-speed options, usually in cities, can’t afford to pay for them. Others with internet service find it’s too slow, causing problems like patchy Zoom meetings, slow web browsing and trouble downloading documents or videos. The federal government, through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, recognized this also and allocated $65 billion to provide high-speed internet “all across America,” which has state governments around the country vying to bring this money to their disconnected communities.

“Show us a plan that guarantees every single person in your state has access to highspeed, affordable internet,” said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo during a 2021 press briefing after the measure passed. “And then we’re going to evaluate that plan, adjust it, provide technical assistance to make sure at the end of the day we hit the goal.”

New Mexico, like every other state, is guaranteed by the federal government $100 million to pursue this effort, and additional monies are available based on proposals submitted from planning committees around the state.

Read the full article via the Deming Headlight or the Carlsbad Current-Argus.