N.M.’S Daunting Digital Divide | ABQ Journal

N.M.’S Daunting Digital Divide | ABQ Journal: If matching dollars from telephone companies that won stimulus grants are included, plus development loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service, broadband investments in the past five years surpass $400 million, according to the state Department of Information Technology.

But many of New Mexico’s rural zones still have no Internet coverage, and many that do are still using dial-up modems, or aging digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, said USDA Rural Development State Director Terry Brunner.

And don't expect Google to come in any time soon and build fiber to the premise infrastructure as it is doing in a single metro area, Kansas City.

“New Mexico still has a digital divide because in some areas it’s just so hard to go through mountains or rock formations, and then you get to the end of the route and find there just aren’t enough homes and businesses to pay for the construction,” said Valerie Dodd, CenturyLink Inc.’s vice president and general manager for New Mexico.

Not a valid explanation because it fails to take into account aerial fiber, using (and upgrading as necessary) the utility poles that deliver POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) via copper cable.