Starlink loses out on $886 million in rural broadband subsidies

[Elderberry]

The Verge By Wes Davis 12/12/2023

The FCC’s final denial says Starlink hasn’t proven it can “deliver the promised service” of rural broadband.

The FCC announced today that it won’t award Elon Musk’s Starlink an $886 million subsidy from the Universal Service Fund for expanding broadband service in rural areas. The money would have come from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program (RDOF), but the FCC writes that Starlink wasn’t able to “demonstrate that it could deliver the promised service” and that giving the subsidy to it wouldn’t be “the best use of limited Universal Service Fund dollars.”

That was the same reason the FCC gave when it rejected Starlink’s bid last year, which led to this appeal. SpaceX had previously won the bidding to roll out 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload “low-latency internet to 642,925 locations in 35 states,” funded by the RDOF.

“The FCC is tasked with ensuring consumers everywhere have access to high-speed broadband that is reliable and affordable,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. “This applicant had failed to meet its burden to be entitled to nearly $900 million in universal service funds for almost a decade.” FCC commissioner Brendan Carr dissented, writing that “the FCC did not require — and has never required — any other award winner to show that it met its service obligation years ahead of time.”

More: https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/12/23999070/spacex-starlink-fcc-rural-digital-opportunity-fund-fcc-rejected

[Timber Rattler]

Reeks of politics. One would think that Starlink keeping the internet on in Ukraine is all the proof the government needs that it can do the same for Rural America. Biden is trying to squeeze Musk.

[Elderberry]

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr Suggests Denial of Starlink Follows Biden Giving Federal Agencies “The Green Light To Go After” Elon Musk After He Bought Twitter

Reclaim the Net By Dan Frieth 12/12/2023

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rejected Starlink’s request for an $885 million subsidy, a decision that has sparked controversy, especially among its commissioners. Brendan Carr, an FCC Commissioner, has voiced a strong dissent, suggesting the decision is politically motivated and not based on objective legal, factual, or policy grounds.

According to the FCC, “After reviewing all of the information submitted by Starlink, the Bureau ultimately concluded that Starlink had not shown that it was reasonably capable of fulfilling RDOF’s requirements to deploy a network of the scope, scale, and size required to serve the 642,925 model locations in 35 states for which it was the winning bidder.”

The FCC also alleged that, “At the time of the Bureau’s decision, Starship had not yet been launched. Indeed, even as of today [i.e. over a year later], Starship has not yet had a successful launch; all of its attempted launches have failed. Based on Starlink’s previous assertions about its plans to launch its second-generation satellites via Starship, and the information that was available at the time, the [Wireline Competition] Bureau necessarily considered Starlink’s continuing inability to successfully launch the Starship rocket when making predictive judgment about its ability to meet its RDOF obligations.”

Carr asserts that the decision is part of a broader pattern of regulatory actions against Elon Musk’s businesses, particularly following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, his unfiltered political expressions, and his commitment to free speech. Carr references a statement by President Biden, suggesting a governmental inclination to scrutinize Musk.

More: https://reclaimthenet.org/fcc-brendan-carr-starlink-elon-musk-biden

[DefiantMassRINO]

This why most large Government contractors funnel campaign donations, and jobs for relatives, to both sides.

[Fishrrman]

I sense that if Mr. Musk had been a leftist, he would have received all the grants he asked for...

[roamer_1]

The idea that it is ineffective and therefore unworthy is crap. It is the MOST effective internet delivery there is for rural America, and for roaming vehicles.

That being said, free gubmint cheese rankles me always.