East Mountain Broadband System Design + Environmental Compliance

CobbFendley provided analysis, design, and environmental compliance services for the East Mountain Broadband System in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. The purpose of this project is to bring broadband connectivity to the 87059 zip code of the region, an area that was identified as the most under-served by current high-speed broadband providers, with the goal of expanding high-speed broadband to all areas of the East Mountains in the future.

The 87059 area’s broadband challenges stemmed from a combination of low population density, geography, and infrastructure. The mountainous and tree-dense geography of the area made it difficult to expand current broadband infrastructure or build future-proof broadband infrastructure. Aerial delivery and delivery of internet through electric poles is near its peak capacity, and underground delivery means digging in mountainous terrain. The low population density combined with the high cost of erecting poles has made this area a low priority for service for many telecom providers.

CobbFendley’s goal was to identify the current broadband needs of this area and provide options for  building a network with the most cost-benefit for the area and its residents. We provided a detailed description of the proposed network which includes the following:

• The Proposed Funded Service Area (PFSA) as proposed in the application.
• Any upgrades that will be made to the existing network, if applicable.
• The types of services (voice, video, and/or data) to be offered in the PFSA.
• The types of technology to be deployed in the PFSA and how the technology will facilitate the offering of service at the Broadband Grant Speed.
• The estimated number of establishments to be served with detailed information showing that all households and businesses within the PFSA will be offered broadband service at the Broadband Grant Speed when the system is complete.
• A description of the proposed connection to the internet service providers (ISP) and any changes needed to the existing system to accommodate additional capacity.
• A description of the design parameters used in engineering the system including over-subscription ratio calculations, bandwidth consumption per user, link loss, data rates per link, redundancy requirements, and technical specifications.
• A description of any licenses and/or agreements required to construct and operate the network and the status of securing those licenses/agreements.
• A network diagram of the applicant’s proposed network. This block diagram clearly shows how the traffic flows through the network from the interconnection points with the backbone service providers to the end users.
• Information on environmental compliance and completion of environmental questionnaire