Los Alamos County, New Mexico is inching closer to the launch of its “Atomic Fiber” county-wide open access fiber network, recently announcing they’ve received signed contracts with the partner ISPs that will be tasked with providing affordable fiber access to local residents.
An announcement by the county indicates that they’ve signed agreements with four providers: XMission, Anthem Broadband, Intellipop, and LANet. The county says network construction is still slated to begin this spring (likely April). Some locals are expected to be connected by the fall of 2026, with network completion expected sometime in 2030.
As with most open access fiber networks, locals will eventually have the option to quickly switch between multiple competing broadband providers in pursuit of the best price, speed, customer service, and performance.
Bonfire Fiber (Bonfire Engineering & Construction LLC) is the primary partner contracted by Los Alamos County to design, build, and operate the Atomic Fiber Community Broadband Network (CBN). County officials previously told ISLR that the total network cost is expected to be around $35 million, and the finished network should pass 10,014 addresses.
A 2023 Strategic Leadership Plan adopted by the County Council identified that broadband is an “essential service,” stating that a county-owned community broadband network would be a top priority to improve economic vitality of the county. So in late 2023, the county issued a project request for proposals (RFP).
In November of last year, the Los Alamos County Council unanimously approved an ordinance authorizing the issuance of up to $40 million in GRT revenue bonds. Once built, the county estimates that the estimated operational costs of $15.9 million over 20 years will be funded by subscriber and partner ISP revenues paid back to the county, according to the project FAQ.
Better, Faster, Cheaper
Last mile residential prices have yet to be announced, but they’re expected to be well in line with the kind of pricing seen on other open access fiber deployments such as Utah’s UTOPIA Fiber, or Superior, Wisconsin’s ConnectSuperior.
“LAnet will have connections to White Rock and Los Alamos from their facility,” Mike Edl, vice president of Bonfire Fiber, recently told locals in a Q&A session. “The other three ISPs will be coming in from Albuquerque. They will all have to be on redundant routes. The benefit of Open Access Networks is that you will have one line into your property to get four ISPs. Providers will have different services which gives the consumer more choices.”
Data from around the globe has shown that open access broadband networks dramatically lower the costs for market entry, encouraging competition. That competition, in turn, drives more equitable, evenly-available broadband access, faster speeds, and lower prices. Despite this, federal policymakers have been hesitant to embrace the model, largely because it directly challenges the dominance of politically-powerful national telecom monopolies.
While Los Alamos National Laboratory has access to some of the fastest broadband speeds imaginable, heavy monopolization and a historic refusal of private companies to coordinate with local officials and tribes has left thousands of locals unable to access broadband that meets the FCC’s base definition (100 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream, 20 Mbps upstream).
The result in Los Alamos, as with so many U.S. communities, has been the dominance of regional cable giant Comcast, which has historically seen little competitive or regulatory pressure to compete on price, speed, or quality.
In addition to the open access municipal fiber build, the county says it’s investing approximately $4.4 million in a middle mile project partnership with the Pueblo of San Ildefonso to provide redundant fiber backhaul, improving overall network resilience in the region.
New Mexico is poised to also receive more than $635 million in broadband subsidies courtesy of the Broadband Equity Access and Development (BEAD) program, made possible in turn by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
New Mexico also recently passed legislation empowering the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) to offer qualifying state low income residents a $30 discount for broadband access. The new program replaces the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, which was dismantled after Congressional Republicans refused to fund an extension.
Between renewed state affordability efforts and local competition driven by open access technologies, the overall improvement in local broadband quality and cost should be substantial.
“I really believe the community of Los Alamos is going to have a great experience with the ISPs we have and all of us working together in a common focus to provide superior service, including the actual services and speed you’re going to get,” Edl told locals.
