Broadband ​Ribbon Cuttings

Ribbon Cutting Events

Join us for an upcoming ribbon cutting event that  celebrates the expansion of broadband services across the state as we work together to "connect New Mexico!"

What is a Ribbon Cutting?

Female cutting a ribbon with gold scissors.
The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) and local partners hosts numerous ribboncutting ceremonies throughout each year to mark the launch or completion of a broadband project or funding award. These events are held in every corner of New Mexico, including some of the most rural parts of the state. Please check back regularly for updates on upcoming events and awards.

​Upcoming Ribbon Cutting Events:​

TO BE ANNOUNCED

Ribbon Cutting Archive

Espanola Student Connect Ribbon Cutting
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
New Mexico Secretary of Public Education Mariana Padilla cut a ribbon last month, celebrating rural student household broadband connections in Rio Arriba County. More than 170 rural students in the Española Public Schools now have access to high-speed internet, following the completion of a state-funded broadband project in that county.
The Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) and Ethos Broadband marked the milestone with a ribbon cutting in Chimayo. Secretary Padilla and Rep. Joseph Sanchez, who represents parts of Espanola, were among the dignitaries at the event.

SPEAKERS:
  • Sec. Mariana Padilla, NM Public Education Department
  • State Rep. Joseph Sanchez, District 40
  • Jeff Lopez, OBAE Director
  • Nectarios “Neo” Nicolaou, Ethos Broadband General Manager
  • Ruben Archuleta, Española Public Schools Board President
  • Jeremy Maestas, Rio Arriba County Manager
Mescalero Apache Telecom (MATI)
Data Center and Office Building Ribbon Cutting
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
OBAE Director Jeff Lopez and Tribal Coordinator and Liaison Victory Quintana were among the many attendees who congratulated Mescalero Apache Telecom Inc. (MATI) at the grand opening of its new Data Center and Administrative Offices last month. MATI held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new facility on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. The new state-of-the-art complex will help support the Tribe’s fiber network.
​The new Center will expand high-speed internet services and provide support for education, public safety, digital inclusion, telehealth, and economic growth. The project is the result of a $44 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
Truth or Consequences
Friday, March 27, 2026
SPEAKERS:
  • Melanie Goodman, Office of  U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján
  • Sen. Michael Padilla, Senate Majority Whip
  • Rep. Gail Armstrong, House Minority Leader
  • Rolf Hechler, Mayor, Truth or Consequences
  • Jeff Lopez, Dir., Office of Broadband Access & Expansion
  • Nectarios “Neo” Nicolaou, General Manager, Ethos
  • Greg Jaramillo, VP, Fiber Infrastructure Dev., Ethos
  • Morgan Daniel, Resident and new fiber customer
This ribbon cutting celebrated the completion of an ARPA grant project by Ethos Broadband in Truth or Consequences and Williamsburg in Sierra County. 
Valencia, New Mexico
Date: January 12, 2026
Time: 11am
Location: Valencia High School 310 Bonita Vista Blvd
Los Lunas, NM 87031
Speakers:
  • Lt. Gov. Howie Morales
  • William Wonker, NM Public Eduction Department
  • Sen. Angel Charley
  • Jeff Lopez, Director, Office of Broadband
  • Tyson Curtis, CEO, Resound Networks
  • Susan D. Chavez, Superintendent, Los Lunas Schools
  • Jennifer Otero, Principal, Valencia High School​​
Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, Public Education Secretary Mariana Padilla, state lawmakers, Los Lunas school officials and Resound Networks will join the Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) in a ribbon cutting ceremony Jan. 12, at 11 a.m. at Valencia High School in Los Lunas to celebrate more than 4,000 broadband connections in the region. The new high-speed internet connections are the result of six state project grants totaling $12.7 million awarded to Resound Networks. Three of the six projects are through OBAE’s Student Connect program which will bring broadband to 975 rural students in Los Lunas, Belen and Socorro schools. Other connected locations include 3,100 homes, businesses and farms.
Radium Springs, New Mexico 
January 8, 2026
Deming, New Mexico 
January 8, 2026
Time: 9am-11am
Location: Deming, New Mexico
Silver City, New Mexico 
January 7, 2026
SPEAKERS:
  • Lt. Gov. Howie Morales
  • Rep. Luis Terrazas
  • Jeff Lopez, OBAE director
  • William Hawkins, Silver Consolidated Schools superintendent
  • Justin Donaldson, TWN Communications COO
  • Eric Rodgers, OBAE senior project manager
A total of 484 student households in Grant County are receiving high- speed internet, thanks to a New Mexico Student Connect grant program designed to provide broadband access to rural students across New Mexico. The Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) joined TWN Communications, state leaders, and local officials at Silver High School to celebrate the launch of a $1.5 million Student Connect grant project connecting rural students and school staff in Silver City. TWN is using the state funding to upgrade five towers, build fixed wireless service, and provide equipment for designated student homes. TWN will connect unserved and underserved rural students. Participating students and staff will also receive up to three years of complimentary broadband, enabling students to connect to educational resources at home and closing the digital divide.
​Columbus, New Mexico
Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2025 
Time: 11 a.m. 
Location: Public Plaza, Columbus, NM​
Speakers:
  • Jeff Lopez, Office of Broadband Access and Expansion
  • ​Tim Bowlby, Valley TeleCom Group Network Manager
  • Philip Skinner, Mayor of Columbus
  • Christie Ann Harvey, Luna County Commissioner
Jemez Pueblo
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025
​Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Jemez Pueblo
4471 NM-4 Jemez Pueblo, 87024 (off Highway 4 and Corn Haven Rd.) 
Speakers: 
  • Gov. George Shendo Jr., Jemez Pueblo
  • Jeff Lopez, Director, Office of Broadband Access and Expansion
  • Kevin Shendo, Jemez Pueblo Broadband Director
  • Vicent Toya, Tribal Administrator
  • Sec. Josett Monette, NM Indian Affairs Dept.
  • ​and other state and Tribal dignitaries.
Ruidoso, New Mexico
Date: Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Time: 10:30am 
Location: Ruidoso Community College, Room 201
​709 Mechem Drive, Ruidoso, NM 88345 
Speakers:  
  • Jeff Lopez, Director, NM Office of Broadband Access and Expansion    
  • Mark Fischer, Chairman, Lincoln County Commission
  • Mitch Hibbard, Chief Operating Officer, Penasco Valley Telephone Cooperative   
  • Joe Read, Senior Vice President, Network Operations, TDS         
  • David Westmacott, Network Operations Manager, Mescalero Apache Telecom, Inc.
​The NM Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) will host a ribbon cutting ceremony in Ruidoso to mark the awarding of broadband disaster relief grants to two internet service providers, Penasco Valley Telephone and TDS.  OBAE has awarded the internet service providers more than $1.25 million through the American Rescue Plan Act. The funding will provide resilience and support broadband infrastructure impacted by wildfires and flooding in Lincoln County. 

CONTACT

Mike Curtis
PR Coordinator, OBAE
[email protected]​
505-231-4477

RESOURCES

Awards Library
OBAE Calendar
​Press Release Archive
Newsblast Archive

HELPFUL LINKS

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