Our History

Members vote to pursue fiber-optic broadband through Continental Divide Electric Cooperative (CDEC) at the 2016 annual meeting.

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CDEC enters into a 3-year agreement with Kit Carson Electric Cooperative to build high-speed fiber-optic internet communication in Grants, NM.

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Continental Divide brands fiber internet service as "Red Bolt Broadband".

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CDEC unveils its new high-speed fiber-optic internet service to the public and its plans to expand its headquarters for Red Bolt's infrastructure. At the time of the 2018 annual meeting, Red Bolt Broadband was available in the western Grants area.

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Red Bolt Broadband connects its first subscriber, Grants State Bank.

Continental Divide announced at the 2019 annual meeting that Red Bolt Broadband is mostly built in Grants and expects to begin building into the Village of Milan. Plans are unveiled to expand into Bluewater Village and San Rafael as well.

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Red Bolt Broadband becomes available to most of the Village of Milan. Service spans as far north as Uranium Capitol Speedway, south to the Grants-Milan Municipal Airport east to C&E Concrete, and west to the New Mexico Department of Transportation facility.

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COVID-19 slows Red Bolt Broadband installations. As a result, public wi-fi access is made available throughout Grants and Milan. Key locations included Fire & Ice Park, City Hall Park, Riverwalk Park, Grants High School, Elkins Park, and Mirabal Park.

Additionally, Red Bolt doubled the speeds on all packages at no extra cost except for the gigabit package.

These improvements last until the end of COVID-19 lockdowns.

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CDEC and Red Bolt are awarded a $1.1 million federal grant to provide 1 gigabit service to each school in Zuni Pueblo School District.

Red Bolt Broadband is nearly completed with its build-out to the Zuni Pueblo School District with initial service available for the 2020-21 school year.

Continental Divide and Red Bolt Broadband are awarded $38 million from the federal government and $4 million from the state Public Regulatory Commission (PRC) to expand Red Bolt Broadband to more than 8,400 homes in Continental Divide's service territory. This included extending infrastructure into the Greater Pueblo of Zuni and Zuni Mountain areas. American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds awarded to the Pueblo of Zuni allowing free internet to mutual members of CDEC and Zuni Pueblo.

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Red Bolt Broadband expands internet and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to San Rafael, NM.

CDEC and Red Bolt Broadband break ground for a new facility in the Cibola Industrial Park.

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Red Bolt Broadband implements more affordable service plans for its residential customer base. All subscribers had their speeds doubled from 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps for the same price. Subscribers with 250 Mbps plans increased to 300 Mbps with a price reduction. One Gbps plan subscribers also received a price reduction to their monthly subscription.

Red Bolt Broadband expands internet and VoIP service into Cantina Acres (northern Grants), along Highway 605, Highway 122, and further west to the Prewitt side of Bluewater Lake.

Red Bolt Broadband is awarded a $3.68 million federal grant to build San Mateo, San Fidel and Cubero areas through a program called ReConnect.

CDEC and Red Bolt Broadband move into its new campus at 1821 Clif Lear Avenue, Grants, NM.

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Red Bolt Broadband becomes readily available to residents and businesses residing in the Pueblo of Zuni.

Red Bolt Broadband expands internet and Voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP) to Ramah, NM.

Red Bolt Broadband finishes construction and expands internet and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to San Mateo, NM.