Some regional internet service providers are urging the FCC to reexamine the recent rural broadband auction process that awarded unproven companies like SpaceX’s Starlink hundreds of millions of dollars to provide reliable broadband access to people in rural areas of the U.S.
(Feb 5): The U.S. Federal Communications Commission faces pressure from rural internet service providers to deny a planned US$886 million subsidy to Elon Musk’s SpaceX for beaming broadband to underserved areas from outer space.
Even before winning a competition for the funds, SpaceX had set up its service and begun launching satellites. More than 1,000 of the Starlink craft are now aloft, providing service to test subscribers. The company says its system “is uniquely positioned to deliver high-quality broadband service to the hardest-to-reach rural Americans.”
But that hasn’t stopped complaints about it winning a competition for subsidies from the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, in part because the service was being built without the aid and isn’t limited to rural areas. The planned awards to Space Exploration Technologies Corp., as it’s formally known, and to other companies have lawmakers raising questions about the entire US$9.2 billion program.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission faces pressure from rural internet service providers to deny a planned $886 million subsidy to Elon Musk’s SpaceX…