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posted by chromas on Thursday June 11 2020, @06:56AM   Printer-friendly
from the I-ping-in-your-general-direction dept.

Ajit Pai caves to SpaceX but is still skeptical of Musk’s latency claims:

The Federal Communications Commission has reversed course on whether to let SpaceX and other satellite providers apply for rural-broadband funding as low-latency providers. But Chairman Ajit Pai said companies like SpaceX will have to prove they can offer low latencies, as the FCC does not plan to "fund untested technologies."

Pai's original proposal classified SpaceX and all other satellite operators as high-latency providers for purposes of the funding distribution, saying the companies haven't proven they can deliver latencies below the FCC standard of 100ms. Pai's plan to shut satellite companies out of the low-latency category would have put them at a disadvantage in a reverse auction that will distribute $16 billion from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF).

But SpaceX is launching low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites in altitudes ranging from 540km to 570km, a fraction of the 35,000km used with geostationary satellites, providing much lower latency than traditional satellite service. SpaceX told the FCC that its Starlink service will easily clear the 100ms cutoff, and FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly urged Pai to let LEO companies apply in the low-latency tier.

The FCC voted to approve the updated auction rules yesterday. The final order isn't public yet, but it's clear from statements by Pai and other commissioners that SpaceX and other LEO companies will be allowed to apply in the low-latency tier. The satellite companies won't gain automatic entry into the low-latency tier, but they will be given a chance to prove that they can deliver latencies below 100ms.

[...] SpaceX met with commission staff over the last few days of May, telling them that its broadband system "easily clears the commission's 100ms threshold for low-latency services, even including its 'processing time' during unrealistic worst-case scenarios." We contacted SpaceX today about the low-latency change and will update this story if we get a response.


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  • (Score: 2) by theluggage on Thursday June 11 2020, @04:01PM (1 child)

    by theluggage (1797) on Thursday June 11 2020, @04:01PM (#1006353)

    One way or two way and from where to where and when idle or busy?

    Irrelevant at this stage - If anybody claims that their geostationary satellites in 35,000km orbits can beat 100ms (spoiler: speed of light = 300,000 km/second) then there's nothing more you need to ask (apart from the name of the Scottish gentleman who gave them the design in return for building a fish tank) before throwing them out along with the perpetual motion hawkers and Brooklyn bridge salesmen.

    Musk & co, however, are using a swarm of satellites at only ~600km so they could feasibly beat 100ms without breaking the laws of physics. Doesn't mean that they will beat it - but there's no justification from stopping them from trying.

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  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday June 12 2020, @04:41PM

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Friday June 12 2020, @04:41PM (#1006940) Journal

    We just have to entangle our new Quantum™ Computers. Then you will be talking about lead times! It will be like Jeopardy, the answer will show up before you ask the question.

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..