Jemez Pueblo honored with award for rural broadband project

Jemez Pueblo takes up broadband

JEMEZ PUEBLO — Connect New Mexico announced Sept. 24 that the first homes in a new broadband…

Pueblo of Jemez, NM broadband office to announce Connect Grant Award

The Pueblo of Jemez and the Office of Broadband Access and Expansion announced Monday a grant received from the Connect New Mexico Pilot Program. The grant award of $15.2 million ($8.56 million award plus $6.64 million match) will be used to advance the pueblo’s mission to provide high-speed broadband internet access to underserved homes within […]

JEMEZ PUEBLO — Jemez Pueblo is the first to receive a new statewide award for a broadband project connecting 670 households, tribal departments, programs and businesses to the internet.

The pueblo was honored with the Project Excellence Award at the New Mexico Infrastructure Finance Conference at the Albuquerque Convention Center, according to a news release from the Office of Broadband Access and Expansion.

“This is a tremendous achievement for Jemez and demonstrates the incredible importance of broadband in building infrastructure in New Mexico,” Jeff Lopez, director of the OBAE, stated in the release. “This award exemplifies the huge strides the state has made helping tribal communities and delivering reliable and sustainable broadband to rural communities.”

The $15 million project was made possible in part through an $8.6 million American Rescue Plan Act grant issued in November 2023 by the OBAE, the release said.

The pueblo’s governor, George Shendo Jr., said Jemez is honored to be recognized with the Project Excellence Award.

“We are excited to fully realize all the opportunities our broadband project will bring to current and future generations in Jemez and the surrounding communities,” Shendo Jr. said in the release.

Since January 2024, JNET, the pueblo’s internet provider, has connected more than 40 homes to the internet and is in the process of building more than 45 miles of fiber optic cable to complete the project, according to the release.

JNET, the internet provider established and operated by Jemez Pueblo, has been constructing the current fiber-to-the-home project since January 2024. JNET is currently building more than 45 miles of fiber to complete the broadband project, which should be complete sometime next year.