LL council approves agreement with Texas-based Ezee Fiber

LOS LUNAS — Internet customers in the village of Los Lunas will soon have more options for high-speed connections to the information superhighway.

During its Sept. 18 regular meeting, the village council approved a license agreement with Houston-based Ezee Fiber to provide “last mile” fiber services to homes and businesses within the village.

Village of Los Lunas IT director Luis Brown, who said he worked with village attorney Larry Guginno on the agreement, told the council under the licensing agreement, the company will use village right-of-way spaces to “install fiber backbone.”

The agreement will provide the village with a small amount of income from Ezee Fiber’s operations. The funds will be used to cover administration costs and monitor the installation of fiber optic cable.

“We don’t get much revenue from anybody providing internet service at this time, simply because of the way the FCC regulations are worded,” Brown said. “By doing a license agreement and charging (Ezee Fiber) per linear foot for their backbone fiber — that’s the stuff between the cabinets — not the last mile to the houses. We’re not charging them per customer. We’re charging them to be here. That appears to be legal, and that’s why we’re putting forth this agreement.”

Ezee Fiber’s move to Los Lunas is part of an expansion into New Mexico announced in the summer of 2024. In a press release in June 2024, Ezee Fiber announced the expansion of its 100 percent fiber network into “Albuquerque … and surrounding communities.”

On its website, the company says it “provides premium multi-gig fiber internet service to residential customers, businesses, government agencies, hospital systems, and educational institutions through its 100% fiber-optic network,” and is “built on a foundation of operational excellence, exceptional customer service, premium internet speeds, and straightforward, transparent pricing.”

According to the website (ezeefiber.com), Ezee Fiber is currently available in Texas, Illinois, Washington and New Mexico. It provides service currently in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.

The company is currently taking pre-registration in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, Corrales and Santa Fe.

During questions from the mayor and council, Brown added that the agreement will grant the village oversight authority on Ezee Fiber’s projects to expand fiber optic availability in the village and also bring a small amount of money into the Los Lunas’ coffers.

Currently, fiber optic internet service is being provided in the village by Plateau Communications, DSL service from Xfinity, and CenturyLink.

Through Plateau, the village has fiber optic cable infrastructure entirely covering the area west of Interstate 25. Rancho Valencia, at the south end of Camelot Boulevard, and the neighborhoods north of Los Lunas High School are the only areas east of Interstate 25 that have fiber optic access through Plateau.

Asked about the specifics of the agreement, Brown explained the agreement allows Ezee Fiber to run cable all the way to residents’ homes.

“The agreement covers what we call the ‘middle mile,’ which goes from the connections from the long haul connections from out of town and connects different neighborhoods (via) the cabinets,” Brown said. “It goes down Main Street. It’ll eventually be going down Morris Road.”

Brown said Ezee Fiber will be laying down fiber optics down Main Street, Morris Road, N.M. 314, and other major arteries in the village.

“This is how we get from between the neighborhoods with larger fibers,” he continued. “And then the cabinets branch out and have tinier, very small conduits that go to individual homes. This agreement is about charging them for that middle mile and not trying to get into the last mile for the reasons that I stated earlier, as far as FCC rules.”