The FCC rejected Starlink's application for broadband funding, essentially canceling a grant awarded by the FCC during the time of Chairman Pai.
The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund grant was awarded to Starlink. The money is intended for areas with little or no high-speed broadband access and the satellite provider needed FCC approval to get it.
In the week after the FCC's reverse auction, we wrote about possible problems with the grant. Free Press accused Pai of "subsidizing broadband for the rich" and pointed out that Starlink was awarded money in urban areas.
The long-form applications were rejected by the FCC. Both Starlink and LTD failed to meet program requirements, and their applications failed to demonstrate that they could deliver the promised service, according to the FCC.
The Starlink grants were supposed to provide broadband to more than 600,000 homes and businesses. The satellite service isn't restricted in the same way as wireline networks, so losing the grants won't affect the availability of Starlink.
We are rejecting these applications. Reliable and affordable high-speed broadband is what consumers deserve. As we move into a digital future that demands more powerful and faster networks, we need to put scarce universal service dollars to their best use. We can't afford to subsidize ventures that aren't delivering on their promises.
Even though Starlink doesn't have to build the infrastructure needed when it expands into new geographic areas, the grants were intended for specific census blocks. In order to operate, Starlink relies on its own satellites, user terminals, and ground stations in different countries. Laser links on Starlink satellites reduce the need for ground stations, according to Space X.
AdvertisementThe $600 price each customer must pay in up-front hardware costs is a concern. "Starlink's technology has a lot of promise." The question before us was whether to publicly subsidize its technology for consumer broadband, which requires that users purchase a $600 dish, with nearly $900 million in universal service funds until 2032
Starlink was called a "nascent LEO satellite technology" by the FCC in a public notice. The FCC questioned Starlink's ability to provide low-latency service with the required download speeds. Upload speeds that are falling well below 20 Mbps were cited by the FCC.
The FCC Wireline Competition Bureau got inadequate responses to follow up questions. The FCC said that both internet service providers are in default on all winning bids.
More money was expected than Starlink. The company had failed to meet filing deadlines and was rejected by the FCC. The failures of LTD were detailed in a recent article.
The FCC said that it was the largest winning bidder in the auction and submitted winning bids in 15 states. It wasn't eligible for support in seven states because it didn't receive eligible telecommunications carrier status in time. The FCC review concluded that LTD was not able to deploy a network that was large enough to meet the winning bids.
Over a year ago, she made it clear that she believed the auction was mismanaged and that the agency needed to clean up issues with the program's design. According to the FCC, the program was poised to fund broadband to parking lots.
The FCC asked Starlink to give up funding in about 6 percent of the census blocks where it won FCC grants. If we get any response, we'll update this article.
The original award was $9.2 billion. The FCC said today that the RDOF program has authorized more than $5 billion in funding to bring fiber broadband to over 3,000,000 locations in 47 states. Hundreds of carriers have begun to deploy future-proof networks with the help of this program.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
