The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $40 million in rural New Mexico to get high-speed internet service to the people who work and live there, the agency announced recently. 

The investment is part of President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), "which provides $65 billion to expand reliable, affordable, high-speed internet to all communities across the U.S.," the USDA states in its April 3 announcement, and is part of the President Biden's Investing in America agenda.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has given USDA unprecedented resources to close the digital divide in rural America,” USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack said in the news release. “Connecting rural Americans to reliable, high-speed internet helps farmers and businesses operate more efficiently and break into new markets. It helps build and keep wealth in rural communities."

The grant money comes from the fourth round of funding of the ReConnect Program. The USDA has invested $1.7 billion through the Biden-Harris Administration through the ReConnect Program in order to bring high-speed internet access to rural America. Additional investments in rural areas will be announced soon.

Three New Mexico projects have been announced, the release reports. 

Western New Mexico Telephone Company, Inc. is receiving $23.8 million to deploy a fiber to the premises network for high speed internet access to people in Catron County, the release reports. The company is participating in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Lifeline and Affordability Connectivity Programs (LACP) to keep the services affordable, and will also provide a $34.99 monthly plan with 75 megabits per second upload and download speeds for those who subscribe in the project area and are enrolled in the LACP, according to the release. 

 $2.6 million grant is going to the E.N.M.R. Telephone Cooperative for a fiber-to-premises network providing high-speed internet access to De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding, Quay, San Miguel, Socorro and Union counties, the release reports. E.N.M.R is also participating in the FCC's LACP. The project will serve "socially vulnerable communities" in the area, according to the release.

Penasco Valley Telephone Cooperative (PVT) will get $13.9 million in grant funding for its fiber-to-premises network which will provide high-speed internet access to 550 people, 48 farms and 11 businesses in the counties of Chaves, Eddy, Otero and Lincoln. PVT is also participating in LACP programs to keep costs to consumers affordable and is offering a program that provides free internet to qualifying households, the release reports.

"USDA is committed to making sure that people, no matter where they live, have access to high-speed internet," Vilsack said in the announcement. "That’s how you grow the economy – not just in rural communities, but across the nation.”