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Project Set To Take On Digital Divide In Northern NM

facebook.com/USDA

More than two dozen communities in northern New Mexico will now have broadband service thanks to one of the largest communication projects ever funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development office.

The new system was recently dedicated during a ceremony in Taos.

Rural Development State Director Terry Brunner says before the project, many people in the mountainous areas of northern New Mexico didn't have access to broadband and high-speed internet.

The new network stretches 2,400 miles, linking more than 20,500 households, 3,600 businesses and two Native American pueblos to better communication services.

Financing for the project came from federal stimulus funds. Kit Carson Electric Cooperative will receive a grant worth more than $44 million and a loan for more than $19 million to pay for the new infrastructure.

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