The New Mexico Permit Finder Tool, introduced by the state’s Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) yesterday, provides crucial information on permits required for construction in the state.
New Mexico’s free interactive tool tells providers which local, state, and federal permits are needed for construction across almost $900 million state- and federally-funded broadband infrastructure projects. It is available to all providers building in the state regardless of funding source.
The tool can be used in two ways: Users can search for all permits within a given area or upload their network design to learn which necessary local, state, and federal permits they must obtain.
The goal is to eliminate what the press release calls one of the biggest obstacles to expanding broadband across the state.
“Problems and delays with permits can be a tremendous deterrent in getting broadband projects completed on time,” OBAE Permitting Coordinator Lancee Camfield said in the press release about New Mexico’s new tool. “This new tool will help awardees kick off their permitting processes quickly and consistently across all land ownership and permitting jurisdictions.”
Users of the New Mexico broadband permit tool can find:
- The kind of permit needed (review, compliance, or right of way)
- The agency requiring permits (local, state, and federal)
- The agency contacts and application information
- Instructions for completing the permit processes
The press release says that the tool is the second in the nation that offers such data. The Arizona Commerce Authority’s ConnectAllAZ initiative announced its Permit Finder tool last October. In early November, Arizona State Broadband Director Nicolas Capozzi told Telecompetitor that the state had been working on the Permit Finder for about 18 months.
A spokesperson from the New Mexico OBAE told Telecompetitor that — though the goals were the same — the state’s broadband permit tool is not based on the one developed by Arizona.
