{"id":36884,"date":"2022-12-07T11:04:11","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T18:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/lawmakers-question-whether-statewide-school-internet-network-will-function-in-rural-areas\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T18:04:11","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T18:04:11","slug":"lawmakers-question-whether-statewide-school-internet-network-will-function-in-rural-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/lawmakers-question-whether-statewide-school-internet-network-will-function-in-rural-areas\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers question whether statewide school internet network will function in rural areas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The statewide education network aims to give schools in New Mexico the option to jump onto an internet server that reaches all across the state by 2027. (Shaun Griswold\/Source NM)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

State lawmakers expressed familiar skepticism during recent updates on New Mexico\u2019s broadband internet investments.<\/p>\n

Public education and state broadband officials set a goal to give hundreds of schools \u2013 serving a total of nearly 400,000 students \u2013 in New Mexico the option to jump onto an internet server that reaches all across the state by 2027.<\/p>\n

But some lawmakers representing areas where internet access and reliability have historically been uneven across New Mexico voiced concerns about whether the state can keep up with the demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, we\u2019ve had the hit and miss of connectivity around the state,\u201d Rep. Jane Powdrell-Culbert (R-Corrales) said. Powdrell-Culbert, who lost her seat to Democrat Kathleen Cates in November, continued on to say that this kind of work to get stable internet access throughout the state is important and needs to be done hand-in-hand with local providers.<\/p>\n

The pandemic exacerbated the need for internet access in New Mexico\u2019s public schools. Local school districts and state officials spent millions in federal pandemic aid to build technology systems to give hardware like tablets or laptops to every student, and invested in installing networks to connect those students to the internet.<\/p>\n

To boost the state\u2019s internet infrastructure further, the governor signed a bill into law last year that required the setup of this statewide education network.<\/p>\n

Ovidiu Viorica is the broadband and technology manager with the N.M. Public Schools Facilities Authority. He talked to multiple interim state legislative committees in the past month about the network. Planning started in April 2021, and definitive work started last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know that whenever internet is not available, the educational process just cannot occur,\u201d Viorica said.<\/p>\n

\n

99% of public schools connected to internet<\/h4>\n

Viorica said all N.M. public schools except four \u2013 Tse Yi\u2019 Gai High School in Pueblo Pintada, Lybrook Elementary in Jemez Mountain, and San Antonio and Midway Elementary schools in Socorro \u2013 have high speed internet connections. Those four schools not connected should be by July 2023, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Points of connection, called nodes, will initially be set up in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Gallup, Farmington, Santa Fe and Las Vegas, and broadband will travel across major routes between those points, connecting to schools along the way. Additional nodes will be set up in more cities later on, most of which will be at higher education facilities like the University of New Mexico or New Mexico State University.<\/p>\n

About $10 million of state and federal funding will be dedicated to this project annually for the next five years, adding up to $50 million to get it all set up by 2027.<\/p>\n

While the main goal is to provide good internet for all New Mexico schools, Viorica said there will also be other benefits, like sharing educational resources and boosting cybersecurity.<\/p>\n

He said it\u2019ll be easier to fend off digital attacks on schools by protecting one big internet stream as opposed to all the smaller, individual internet networks \u2013 though work will still need to be done on a local level, and schools probably need more funding to do that.<\/p>\n

Viorica said getting all this going is not an easy task. Not many specific details were given at either legislative meeting, and few lawmakers asked challenging or specific questions about the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is quite a tedious effort to go through the steps to establish this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Will it work?<\/div>\n

Viorica talked to the Science, Technology and Telecommunications Committee on Nov. 17 about the internet improvement projects. But not all the lawmakers were convinced it\u2019ll be foolproof.<\/p>\n

One lawmaker, Rep. Randall Pettigrew (R-Lovington), said he doesn\u2019t see how the broadband collaboration for all the schools will work overall. He said he\u2019s worried that technical details about rural capacity and connectivity based on the existing servers aren\u2019t really being worked out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll summer long, I\u2019ve been looking at maps from yourself that don\u2019t coincide with the rural network that exists,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Viorica reassured the legislator that the maps have been conceptual and don\u2019t represent an exact path of circuits.<\/p>\n

Rep. Susan Herrera (D-Embudo) wasn\u2019t surprised schools in Rio Arriba County weren\u2019t on the state\u2019s list to be considered for the new network. Viorica said school districts with internet service provider contracts cannot join the statewide network until those agreements are ended.<\/p>\n

He said most schools in Herrera\u2019s district are already on a regional network called the North Central Consortium, something put in place as a precursor to the full statewide server. Once contracts like that are up, he said, those other schools can apply to get on this statewide network.<\/p>\n

But even just applying could be difficult for some smaller counties. Herrera said there\u2019s a lot of turnover in education, making it hard to get those kinds of applications actually done.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult from the rural perspective,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Viorica admitted that though the state is trying to help with technical assistance in applying for the broadband process, \u201cit\u2019s a work in progress\u201d and is particularly difficult for smaller, local entities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Office of Broadband is really working hard to put in place some technical assistance resources that will (help),\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t help today, but it\u2019s probably going to help in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s broadband office was established in 2021 with funding to staff six full-time employees. Dianne Lindstrom, deputy director of the state\u2019s broadband office, said this statewide network could get set up even faster if the Legislature increases staffing resources when the session starts next year.<\/p>\n

Pettigrew also voiced concerns that this large network would leave local internet providers out of the mix as they try to compete with state and federal funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur co-ops are built and put the time and effort over decades to get this done,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if we turn around and build a network that the co-ops are taken out of the picture on, that\u2019s not going to look good on national news. And I\u2019ll make sure it makes it there.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Viorica said the plan is to build on existing services, working with local providers to do so. He said that\u2019ll be the most cost-effective way to set up this internet connection and those providers are best positioned to provide services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to work with them because they\u2019re local. They\u2019re there,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to make sure that the network operates properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more stories from Source New Mexico, visit sourcenm.com.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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