Eleven local exchange carriers (LECs) in New Mexico have banded together to create NM Fiber Network, LLC. Formed at the behest of the New Mexico Broadband Initiative Consortium, The new company aims to leverage their existing infrastructure as well as new fiber deployments to create a statewide fiber backbone to support broadband efforts backed by funding from The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.
The companies that have joined to create NM Fiber Network include:
- Baca Valley Telephone Company, Inc.
- Dell Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
- ENMR Telephone Cooperative
- La Jicarita Rural Telephone Cooperative
- Leaco Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
- Peñasco Valley Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
- Roosevelt County Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
- Sacred Wind Communications, Inc.
- Tularosa Communications, Inc.
- Valley Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
- Western New Mexico Telephone Company, Inc.
"NM Fiber Network and current owner-member fiber systems span thousands of miles across New Mexico and are well-positioned to enable the expansion and extension of New Mexico middle-mile infrastructure to reduce the cost of connecting unserved and underserved areas," stated Josh Beug, general manager, Tularosa Basin Telephone Cooperative.
"The state fiber broadband network is crucial to providing middle mile and broadband access to all areas of New Mexico," added John Badal, spokesman for the New Mexico Broadband Initiative Consortium and CEO of Sacred Wind Communications, Inc.
NM Fiber Network will partner with rural and underserved fiber network specialist INDATEL in the creation of the new network infrastructure, an effort expected to take several years and cost multiple millions of dollars. The companies say NM Fiber Network will focus on enabling high-speed fiber-optic backbone capabilities to themselves and other telecommunications providers and direct business customers such as hospitals, schools, and government agencies.
"We are pleased that NM Fiber Network is establishing a statewide network in New Mexico and will collaborate with us," INDATEL Services CEO Mel Wagner Jr. said. "We are happy to work with and assist NM Fiber Network in monetizing and expanding its network. In addition, because of their state network, INDATEL is an essential partner for rural ILECs as INDATEL's footprint extends across much of the United States."
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