State leads Southwest in broadband needs

ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico has the highest percentage of residents in the U.S. Southwest without adequate broadband internet service, a problem highlighted Monday by the Biden administration as it looks to infuse more than $2 trillion into infrastructure projects nationwide.

The administration released details about each state’s needs for everything from internet access to highways, affordable housing and drinking water projects.

In New Mexico, the federal government estimates 22 percent of residents live in areas where there’s no broadband infrastructure that provides acceptable internet speeds. Nearly 70 percent are in areas where there’s only one such internet provider.

About one in five New Mexico households do not have an internet subscription, according to the administration’s summary.

Around the Southwest, the percentages of households without subscriptions are much lower — ranging from around 9 percent in Utah and Colorado to 13 percent in Arizona and 14 percent in Nevada.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a New Mexico Democrat who chairs a congressional subcommittee that has been focusing on the digital divide, introduced legislation with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina that would reimburse schools for installing Wi-Fi on buses. Luján also introduced a measure that would authorize $5 billion for a program that makes low-interest financing available for broadband infrastructure projects. Luján said at a hearing last month that the goal should be “100 percent connectivity” with fast, affordable internet nationwide.