Before we get to today's edition, an update on Monday's where we had ABQ businessman David Doyle prepping for a GOP primary race for the ABQ state senate seat of Mark Moores who is not running again. Doyle has now rejected that planned candidacy, according to his spokesman, because of his workload as a construction company executive.
That leaves former state Senator Michael Wiener and businesswoman Nicole Tobiassen, who officially announced her candidacy Wednesday, as the two Republican competitors in the District 21 June primary.
We'll continue to keep a close eye on the comings and goings in the only remaining GOP senate seat in ABQ. Now on to today's blog. . .
TOUTING SCRANTON JOE
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| Mitch Landrieu |
A Republican presidential candidate hasn’t carried New Mexico since 2004 and that streak is likely to continue in 2024. But that doesn’t mean the White House is taking the state's five electoral votes for granted.
Today and Friday, the state's two US senators and Governor MLG will be joined by former New Orleans Mayor and White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu to tout President Biden and the benefits of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as well as the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that commit over $1 trillion for infrastructure and clean energy but have yet to translate into improved popularity for Biden.
High speed broadband, of course, will be a topic high on the agenda of Landrieu and company. In particular they will discuss with media the $675 million broadband investment coming to New Mexico because of the Biden bills approved by Congress.
They will also tour Santo Domingo Pueblo where $13 million in federal money is about to be rolled out for internet expansion. The trio will conduct another news conference in Tijeras to discuss a $49 million project "to expand middle and last mile internet access in rural New Mexico, including in communities along NM Hwy 14 in Santa Fe, Sandoval, Bernalillo, and Torrance Counties."
A TIMELY VISIT
So with Coordinator Landrieu in our backyard we go back to the readers for follow-up on their experiences with satellite internet. David Strip outside of Llaves, NM in Rio Arriba County starts us off.
Starlink is indeed a marvel for the right subscriber, but it has its limits. It can be expensive and in the 15 months I've had it (after 14 months on the waiting list), the price has gone up twice. Starlink should undoubtedly be part of the solution in NM, but how widespread that should be requires a lot of analysis.
I'm 8 miles from the nearest power line or phone line and have no cell phone signal. Installing any kind of wired connection to my house could easily exceed $100K, would require permits to cross the National Forest, and would serve exactly one customer. That's clearly a case for satellite internet, be it Starlink, Viasat, HughesNet, or something else.
Although my neighbors are typically a mile or more apart, they have access to landlines and electric power. In addition, a well-located cell tower would serve dozens of households. So even though these homes are rural by most any standard, satellite internet is not the obvious solution.
A further limit in Starlink's case is that it can service only 300 or so customers in a cell, which is a hexagon about 15 miles across. As the cell fills, service quality declines. Once full, Starlink puts customer requests on a waiting list. This is not an issue for isolated ranches and such, but small towns and surrounding properties could fill a cell.
As to the suggestion that the current administration is locking out Starlink as some sort of political payback because Starlink is owned by Elon Musk, that seems like the usual projection by supporters of the current Republican candidates who are running on platforms explicitly calling for payback against their perceived enemies. Musk's SpaceX continues to launch missions for NASA and has continued to receive additional licenses for Starlink satellites. Other than not inviting a particularly unpleasant individual to the White House, there is no evidence of payback again Musk or his companies.
Thanks, David, for that pragmatic assessment of how Starlink is positioned as an important alternative and not meant as a replacement for new fiber networks. Also, while satellite can be expensive (just like cable provided internet) there is a federal subsidy of $30 a month available to low income internet users and the state could employ some of that $675 million in federal money to further subsidize bills.
MORE BROADBAND BANTER
My son and family moved to Ft. Collins, CO. last month. Their internet should be hooked up soon. They went with the cheaper service at $70/month. That gets them 1 gigabyte/sec in both directions plus Wi-Fi. This is provided by the city like a utility similar to water and garbage collection, a concept suggested by politicians here in Las Cruces years ago but never acted upon. My other son has it at our cabin in the Gila National Forest. It is currently $120/month for speeds that vary between 60 and 400 megabits/sec as compared to no non-satellite service at all. Yes. Starlink is a reasonable alternative for New Mexico as in other parts of the 3rd world.
Reader Jim McClure writes:
Joe, you’re right on the money in raising questions about the fiber-optic money pit of rural broadband. Fiber is the way to go if the objective is to spend as much money as possible no matter how long it takes. This may be the digital version of that high-speed train they’ve been building in California since 2008. As you point out, another generation of digital-deprived kids will grow up before a fiber network can be installed throughout the state.
As others have noted, satellite technology is cheaper and can be deployed much faster. So can 5G cellular broadband, which already is available from major cellular carriers such as Verizon and T-Mobile. This technology delivers internet service from an array of mini-cell sites to a home antenna. While optical fiber is the gold standard, wireless technologies are in no way inferior. The best way to connect all of New Mexico is to use a mix of technologies rather than favoring one over others. I hope New Mexico’s broadband project will have a feature we seldom see: accountability.
Employing "a mix of technologies" to help deliver high speed internet today is the essence of the message to be sent to Mitch Landrieu, Kathleen Schlegel, head of the NM broadband office, our US Senators, the Governor and the Legislature.
Thanks for the email. We continue to learn how governments can better serve citizens shut out of broadband, particularly the younger generation who should not have to wait years for a chance to pursue their dreams.
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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023
(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023