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posted by janrinok on Saturday August 13 2022, @08:03PM   Printer-friendly

FCC Denies SpaceX $885 Million in Subsidies for Rural Starlink Expansion - ExtremeTech:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that Elon Musk's SpaceX will not get the $885.5 million subsidy it was previously granted for Starlink internet services. The money was part of the broader $9.2 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and was intended to beef up connectivity in underserved rural areas of the US. However, FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel doesn't think the agency should "publicly subsidize its still developing technology," which requires a $600 satellite dish.

SpaceX was one of 180 companies vying for the funds during the 2020 bidding process, but only two have been dropped from the program. In addition to SpaceX, LTD Broadband has lost its $1.3 billion grant. This was just the first phase of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund rollout, which will run through the early 2030s. It's possible SpaceX will participate in future phases of the program, but it's going to have to address some of its business practices first.

The FCC cited SpaceX's fees as a primary reason for pulling the subsidy. At launch, SpaceX required all subscribers to pay $500 for the satellite dish that connects them to the Starlink megaconstellation. However, SpaceX raised that fee to $600 recently. The monthly fee for service also jumped from $99 to $110. The FCC thinks the limited universal service funds should go to less expensive connectivity options.

This announcement doesn't come completely out of left field. Last year, the FCC warned SpaceX and other bidders that the subsidies could not be used to cover "parking lots and well-served urban environments." SpaceX was allegedly set to use $111 million of the subsidy to expand in cities that already had plenty of internet access.


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @08:47PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @08:47PM (#1266486)

    I'm sure this has nothing to do with Musk's recent comments that he's going to vote Republican.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @11:50PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @11:50PM (#1266509)

      You're right, I'm sure it didn't have anything to do with that.

      I know it might cause cognitive dissonance, but this pot of money had minimum speed requirements [fcc.gov] attached to it that Starlink has never met. They should have never been in this from the start except for the corporate welfare aspect to it, which they were happy to exploit. So it is ok if Idgit Pai tries to send his buddy Musk some slush funds that he doesn't deserve, but it is the nasty Dems who are the bad ones if they call it out by removing them for not meeting the requirements? Now I challenge you to show how this decision was a political one when the FCC is evenly split by party.

      Starlink isn't a whole lot different than any of the other ISPs in wanting to take money meant for rural build out and use it in the cities where there's more customers. Except that it involves Super Musk, which I suppose means he gets a pass because he's so cool?

      Don't worry, there's still about $15B in future money they will be able to put in for, so I'm sure your guy is going to do ok.

      • (Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 14 2022, @01:52AM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 14 2022, @01:52AM (#1266523) Journal

        Starlink isn't a whole lot different than any of the other ISPs in wanting to take money meant for rural build out and use it in the cities where there's more customers.

        That part looks pretty silly to me. Musk has actually built out to the rural areas. If you have the $600 fee for the satellite modem, you're good to go, no matter how remote you might be. Death Valley, Pike's Peak, the Mississippi delta, Mt. Katahdin, you name it. The satellites have you covered. Better than satellite TV, you don't need a clear view of the southern sky to be covered, he has spaced those orbits out so they sweep most latitudes. (If you live in a deep valley, surrounded by tall peaks, you may still be screwed unless and until a sat finds it's way right over you.)

        I'll stick with TFA, and accept the speed and the cost as major factors in the denial.

    • (Score: -1, Spam) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday August 14 2022, @12:26AM (2 children)

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday August 14 2022, @12:26AM (#1266511) Homepage

      Musk is not respected, and perhaps that's because he tried to play both sides in order to save his own ass. The side-effect was, that neither side wanted to save his ass.

      But, click your stopwatch now, as of this moment don't you think it's weird that he was the darling of "green energy" and now is having mysterious troubles? He tried to approach Trump and Trump told him to go fuck himself. Unlike Musk, Ethanol-fueled will name the Jew. He will point out that Susan Rosenberg bumbed the capitol, and that the elites will not name their Blackmail. Ethanol-fueled WILL.

      Fuck you, Jews. One more riot in my space and I will iff and only iff you destabilize my space, SHOOT YOU. You've been warned. Remember the USS LIberty!

      • (Score: -1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday August 14 2022, @12:34AM (1 child)

        by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday August 14 2022, @12:34AM (#1266513) Homepage

        Do you hear me, you Jewish faggots? Even in a big city it will take only a few bumper-stickers in strategic locations to remind the Goyim of the USS Liberty, Susan Rosenberg's bombing of the US Capitol, Pharma's profits for locking us down, Support for Ukraine while the rest of America starves.

  • (Score: 5, Informative) by ilPapa on Saturday August 13 2022, @09:47PM (3 children)

    by ilPapa (2366) on Saturday August 13 2022, @09:47PM (#1266492) Journal

    I'm sure this has something to do with the fact that Starlink still has only a few hundred thousand users in the US after Musk predicted 5 million by now.

    --
    You are still welcome on my lawn.
    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @10:51PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13 2022, @10:51PM (#1266503)

      No, they pulled shit out of their assholes to get this cancelled, such as using Ookla speed data and calling the dish too expensive. Perhaps we'll see another $400 billion flushed down the toilet for fiber-to-the-barn instead.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by crafoo on Saturday August 13 2022, @10:53PM (1 child)

      by crafoo (6639) on Saturday August 13 2022, @10:53PM (#1266504)

      I'm guessing Starlink was actually provoked into reality due to military need. The new organization of USA military and the new Offset Strategy of very many autonomous and semi-autonomous drones and mines operating worldwide. Also complete battlefield integration and using AI to filter pertinent and timely information to individual operators.

      • (Score: -1, Spam) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday August 14 2022, @12:17AM

        by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday August 14 2022, @12:17AM (#1266510) Homepage

        I'm sure you're just a bunch of Jewish faggots, who will die at the hands of American patriots, because Jews are coward faggots who cannot fight, but merely try to get their Goylem Shabbos Goys to fight for them.

        I got bad news for you fucks: All of America knows you're the enemies. Better catch a plane ticket to New Zealand or get cornered as traitors in America!

        " B-B-But we own the FBI!

        HAHAHAHAHAHHAA, suuuure you do.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Username on Sunday August 14 2022, @07:05PM

    by Username (4557) on Sunday August 14 2022, @07:05PM (#1266611)

    Both cost about the same to install. The other option that's workable is a mesh network of towers, but why fund a company to do it when you could just pay the farmers to put up their own towers.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Freeman on Monday August 15 2022, @06:08PM

    by Freeman (732) on Monday August 15 2022, @06:08PM (#1266807) Journal

    Looking at the requirements for the subsidies, it makes some sense. Still, Starlink is very close to meeting the "minimum". The issue I have is that Starlink is probably the best solution for very hard to reach areas. No ISP wants to build fiber out in the middle of nowhere, because "it doesn't make economical sense". In other words, traditional ISPS, take all the money and subsidies. Then, build-out to the easy places and forget everything else they don't feel makes them money. Which leaves a huge swath of the United States of America left with little or literally no choice.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
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