- New Mexico's broadband office (OBAE) signed its first BEAD grant agreement on Oct 14, 2026, with Kit Carson Electric Cooperative.
- The grant is $26,988,097 for 1,035 miles of fiber to 3,935 locations in Colfax, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Taos counties.
- OBAE expects the Kit Carson project to finish in 2030.
- New Mexico now has 19 BEAD projects with 15 providers, down from 31 projects.
- Locations from the 11 rescinded Resound Networks awards are being re-awarded to new providers.
New Mexico signed its first BEAD grant agreement on Oct 14, 2026. Kit Carson Electric Cooperative gets $26,988,097 to build 1,035 miles of fiber to 3,935 locations in Colfax, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Taos counties, with completion expected in 2030.
What changed
The state’s Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) announced the signing in a release dated Oct 14, 2026. NTIA had approved New Mexico’s BEAD plan earlier in 2026, but this is the first award with a signed agreement. That step matters: federal law gives a BEAD provider four years from receiving its subgrant to build and start service.
The Kit Carson project reaches communities including Chama Valley, Chimayo, Questa, Red River and Taos.
The same release updates the state’s count. New Mexico now has 19 BEAD projects with 15 providers, down from 31 projects:
- July 1, 2026: OBAE rescinded all 11 provisional awards to Resound Networks, about 7,361 locations worth $57,674,784, in counties including Bernalillo, Chaves, Colfax, Otero, Socorro and Sierra.
- Separately: a second awardee withdrew one application.
OBAE says it is “pursuing a process” to choose new providers for the locations those projects covered.
The dates don’t all match
OBAE’s January fact sheet schedules construction for 2026 to 2029, and the approved project file lists Jan 5, 2029 as the estimated end date for every project. The Oct 14 release says the Kit Carson project is expected to finish in 2030. Neither file tells you when crews reach a given road, so the provider’s own schedule is the one to ask for.
Who it affects
- Households in the Kit Carson project area: a named builder and an expected finish year.
- Households in former Resound areas: the locations are being re-awarded, so expect a different provider and a new schedule.
- Everyone else at a funded New Mexico location: the rest of the state’s projects had no signed agreement announced as of Oct 14, 2026.
What to do now
- Open New Mexico’s BEAD page (connect.nm.gov/bead.html). It has a county table showing which providers won in each county, with location counts, and the full location file.
- Find your home on the FCC National Broadband Map first, so you know its location ID and the providers already listed there.
- In the Kit Carson area, ask the co-op about your road. Other local fiber builders are listed in the New Mexico guide.
- In a former Resound area, watch OBAE’s BEAD page for the new awards before making long-term plans.