Insider by Kate Duffy 8/25/2022
FCC commissioner slams the agency for rejecting Elon Musk's bid for $886 million in funding to SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet
• Commissioner Brendan Carr slammed the FCC for denying SpaceX $886 million in US subsidies to expand Starlink.
• The FCC's decision was "without a lawful basis," Carr said in a statement.
• It will leave families in rural areas on "the wrong side of the digital divide," he said.
A commissioner from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) criticized the agency's decision to deny SpaceX's bid for $886 million in US subsidies.
SpaceX, Elon Musk's aerospace manufacturer, was looking for funding to expand its Starlink satellite internet to homes and businesses in remote areas in almost 650,000 places across 35 US states.
However, the FCC rejected SpaceX's bid on August 10 because the company had "failed to demonstrate that the providers could deliver the promised service," the agency said in a press release. LTD Broadband was also denied a subsidy.
Brendan Carr, a Republican commissioner, wrote in a statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday that FCC leadership reversed the decision on SpaceX's application without getting authorization or a vote from the agency's commissioners.
More:
https://www.businessinsider.com/fcc-commissioner-brendan-carr-elon-musk-spacex-starlink-rejected-subsidy-2022-8
