© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks on screen during Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, June 29, 2021. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has denied SpaceX’s applications for Starlink and LTD Broadband for more than $2 billion in government subsidies for internet services, the commission said on Tuesday. Private.
In December 2020, the FCC is expected to award $9.2 billion to more than 300 contractors to deploy high-speed broadband from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. LTD Broadband won $1.32 billion, and SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet network won $885.5 million in the 2020 auction.
SpaceX, run by billionaire Elon Musk, and LTD – with tower locations in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin – did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Starlink’s technology has real promise,” FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement revealing the FCC had denied its long-standing applications. But the FCC has been hesitant to publicly subsidize its burgeoning technology, especially when users need to buy a $600 treat.
The FCC notes that Starlink, a rapidly growing constellation of internet television satellites, is based on nascent low-earth orbit satellite technology and has sought funding to provide 100/20 Mbps service to 642,925 locations in 35 states.
“We must use scarce universal service dollars to make the best use of them as we move into a digital future that requires ever stronger and faster networks,” said Rosenworcel. ,” said Rosenworcel. “We can’t afford to subsidize projects that don’t deliver the promised speed or aren’t able to meet program requirements.”
The FCC said both companies provided incomplete answers to questions and were unable to comply with commission requirements.
The FCC cited data on July 31 showing that Starlink’s speeds dropped between the last quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2022, and that its upload speeds fell below 20 Mbps.
SpaceX has steadily launched about 2,700 Starlink satellites since 2019 and has attracted hundreds of thousands of subscribers, including many who pay $110 a month for broadband internet using a set of terminals. $599 worth of self-installation.
To date, the FCC’s rural internet grant program has authorized more than $5 billion in funding to bring primarily fiber-optic gigabit broadband service to more than 3 million locations in 47 states.
