New Mexico has signed its first BEAD grant agreement, handing Kit Carson Electric Cooperative $26.9 million to run fiber past 3,935 locations in five northern counties. The co-op adds $12 million of its own money. Not a bad day's paperwork for a state still waiting on its first BEAD shovel.

The build spans Colfax, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Taos counties. Of the locations covered, 1,970 count as unserved, 1,965 as underserved, and 31 are community anchor institutions, per the state broadband office. Kit Carson still needs environmental reviews and other prerequisites before construction starts, so the fiber stays theoretical for now.

The state broadband office framed the deal plainly: Kit Carson's award is "the first of 19 BEAD projects awarded to 15 providers across New Mexico." The office also disclosed some housecleaning, noting that OBAE "had previously awarded 31 BEAD projects to connect more than 42,500 locations but rescinded 11 awards to a single awardee," with one more awardee withdrawing an application. A re-selection process, compliant with BEAD program rules, is underway for the affected locations.

What else got built this week?

The Buildout tracked construction, awards and launches reaching over 37,000 locations across the US. The tapestry is — no, the list is:

• Fidium Fiber reached more than 7,400 homes and businesses in Somersworth, New Hampshire, plus 2,100 in Milton and 3,200 in Fort Kent, Maine. All privately funded.
• TDS finished a fiber upgrade in Monroe County, Tennessee, delivering up to 8 Gbit/s to 3,000 locations, backed by a $12.9 million grant from Tennessee's Emergency Broadband Fund, which draws on American Rescue Plan Act money.
• TDS also completed a separate, privately funded buildout to 2,500 homes and businesses in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, started in 2023.
• Kinetic grew its Lexington, Kentucky footprint by 31% year over year, adding 11,400 locations for a total of 46,800 in the Fayette County region.
• Comcast brought Xfinity service to nearly 2,000 homes and businesses in Hardee County, Florida, including 1,300 previously unserved locations, under a state-grant-backed public-private partnership.
• Spectrum lit up another 760 homes and businesses in Sullivan County, Indiana, part of its multi-year rural construction initiative.
• Wire 3 finished an $11.5 million privately funded build in Titusville, Florida, reaching what its press release vaguely calls "thousands more Floridians."

Who's paying, and who's selling?

The funding mix tells the story. Kit Carson's project leans on federal BEAD money plus co-op matching funds. TDS's Tennessee upgrade rides ARPA-era state grants. Fidium, Kinetic, Wire 3 and Spectrum's Indiana work are privately financed, as is Comcast's Florida expansion save for its state grant. Private capital is doing most of the lifting; Washington's checks are only now starting to clear.

Corporate ownership keeps shifting beneath the brand names. Consolidated Communications became Fidium, was acquired by Searchlight Capital and BCI affiliates in December 2024, and rebranded in September 2025. Kinetic's parent, Uniti Group, closed its merger with Windstream in August 2025. Wire 3 counts Guggenheim Investments and Oak Hill Capital among its backers, with Oak Hill taking a majority stake in 2024. TDS, for its part, carries funding from Oaktree Capital Management.

What happens next?

Kinetic says it "will continue adding fiber locations in Lexington through the end of the year and into 2027." Kit Carson faces the less glamorous phase: reviews, prerequisites, then construction. New Mexico's remaining 18 BEAD agreements, plus the re-award process for the rescinded projects, will determine when the state's $42,500-location promise actually meets a trencher.