New Mexico AG Supports Raising State USF Broadband Speed Minimum

New Mexico should raise its broadband speed standard to 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload to align with the national standard, the state attorney general office replied Monday in the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission’s State Rural USF proceeding (case 19-00286-UT). New Mexico’s current standard is 4/1 Mbps. "A key consideration, particularly in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, is that the 25/3 Mbps standard can support videoconferencing that the existing 4/1 standard cannot,” the AG office wrote. Require 25/3 Mbps with “additional language to allow a carrier that is proposing a worthwhile project which does not meet the 25/3 Mbps threshold to petition the Commission to approve of its proposed project for good cause to serve for instance, in an extremely rural area,” New Mexico PRC staff wrote in a footnote of its reply comments. CenturyLink said the broadband fund should prioritize higher speeds, without specifying numbers. Other states are also weighing USF updates (see 2008110047).