Biden Cabinet Chiefs Laud Internet Aid To NM But Slow And Expensive Roll-Out Remains Issue; Visits Have Political Side With Vasquez Seat On The Line In '24

Sec. Vilsak in ABQ

Biden administration heavies--including the president--are fanning out across the nation this week to tout billions in infrastructure funds that are now headed out the door. They're hoping that voters who have been somewhat apathetic toward the historic legislation will warm to it more--as well as Biden and the Democrats--as they see specific benefits for their hometowns.

Around here that also means propping up the re-election campaign of freshman Congressman Gabe Vasquez whose rural southern district will again be a battleground. But first. . . 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack showed up with the five member NM congressional delegation at Kelly Cable in ABQ Monday to praise $40 million in funding for the build out of high speed internet for remote locations in the state.

If you think that means tens of thousands of digitally stranded New Mexicans are about to see the world whipping by on their computers at a speed most of us take for granted, you would be wrong. 

Spreading speedy Internet in rural areas remains extraordinarily expensive. Take a look at what you get for that $40 million from Secretary Tom and company:

Western New Mexico Telephone Company Inc. is getting $24 million to provide high-speed internet to 206 people, five businesses and five farms in Catron County. Peñasco Valley Telephone Cooperative Inc. is getting $13.9 million to provide high-speed internet to 550 people, 11 businesses and 48 farms in Chaves, Eddy, Otero and Lincoln counties. E.N.M.R. Telephone Cooperative is getting $2.6 million to provide high-speed internet to a farm and 27 people in De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding, Quay, San Miguel, Socorro and Union counties. 

We don't have a precise breakdown but let's say that's around 1,000 total people for the $40 million. That works out to roughly $40,000 per person. 

DOING BETTER

Can we do better? There's been discussion of having small municipal governments get in on the act in their remote areas (some 900 have done so) and perhaps bring the cost down and make the build out much faster than the plodding pace it has become:

. . .The American telecom policy industrial complex has utterly failed to put fiber in the ground and signals in the air at fair prices and with good customer support. So much so that Starlink--a total science project of an internet access system — which doesn’t work if there are trees in the way — has captured the attention and imagination of millions. Broadband on the ground is so wrapped up in the lumbering bullshit of monopolistic regulatory capture that it seems easier and more effective to literally launch rockets and try building a network in the sky. Starlink isn’t the happy end result of a commitment to “facility-based competition.” It is thousands of middle fingers pointing at us from the air. It is what happens when there is an utter lack of competition. Reality, as they say, bites. 

New Mexico's broadband office tells us they have no contact with the Elon Musk owned Starlink, although rural New Mexicans are no doubt very aware of the company.  

The lumbering roll out of fast internet despite the billions of dollars being employed (Rep. Vasquez says only 58 percent of his sprawling district has high speed) is a question that needs to be thrown in the lap of Senator Ben Lujan. He has been an champion for high speed access from his perch as chairman of the Sen. Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband. The issue for him regarding the build out is the same for New Mexicans still stuck with their dinosaur-like dial-up connections--it's too darn slow, Senator. 

NEXT UP

McCarthy and Herrell

Next up is Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigeig who will visit ABQ and Las Cruces during a two day visit today and Wednesday. He'll also also tout infrastructure projects coming to the state from the Feds. But this visit is higher impact than Vilsak's stop. 

Vasquez won his seat in 2022 against Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell by a very tight 1,350 votes. Las Cruces is his hometown and was crucial to his victory but now Herrell is back for another run and expected to launch her candidacy from the heart of Las Cruces next week and feature House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as her special guest. 

It is essential that the GOP perform better in the liberal Dem dominated southern city (and ABQ's Valley and Westside) to have a chance at taking the seat back. Herrell lost Dona Ana County by 13 percent. 

It's the right move to counter McCarthy's visit with Buttigeig (although that will not be acknowledged.) He has the star power with the liberal Democratic base that Valdez needs to reignite for his second term bid. 

More on all that later. For now that's a wrap from our high-speed Internet connection in Albuquerque. Eat your hearts out, Catron County. 

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com)

Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.  

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023