State broadband office launches $7 million grant program to expand public Wi-Fi access

The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion, or OBAE, has launched its Community Connect Grant Program, offering $7 million in state funding to enhance access to public Wi-Fi.

The grant program will award money to projects implementing or expanding Wi-Fi access in public areas, specifically for communities with low connectivity — think rural areas — or digital inclusion to close the “digital divide,” said OBAE Director Jeffrey Lopez.

Lopez, who took over the top role at the office in June, said the OBAE’s mission is to connect every New Mexico household to affordable, high-speed broadband. Currently, the office is focused on capital infrastructure projects needed to build “information super highways” that homes and businesses need to succeed.

Money will come from the OBAE’s $70 million Connect New Mexico Fund, appropriated to the office by the Legislature in 2021. Grants per project cap at $2.5 million and do not require matching funds.

Proposed projects must be in New Mexico and are required to have a network speed of 100 megabits per second for downloads and 20 megabits per second for uploads, OBAE said. Lopez said awarded projects are expected to be running by June 2026, and OBAE hopes to begin allocating grants within the next month or so.

OBAE will review applications on a rolling basis and will look to award entities leveraging community partnerships, such as municipal, county, regional and tribal governments, state agencies, public education institutions and internet service providers, Lopez said.

“This is not a competitive grant opportunity — that’s why there’s a community focus,” Lopez said. “We’re focusing on community needs, making sure that we’re working with local governments so that we’re not picking the lowest bid or doing a competitive bidding process.”

The news follows OBAE awarding two internet providers more than $1.25 million in August to build and repair broadband infrastructure in parts of Lincoln County hit by fires and floods.

The office also awarded the Pueblo of Jemez an $8.6 million grant through the American Rescue Plan Act for a broadband project that will connect nearly 700 homes and businesses, with the first of those homes getting connected in September.