SpaceX riles its rivals for broadband subsidies • Spaceleaks

Last year, SpaceX acquired $886 million in reserve rights to provide local broadband services via Starlink.

The federal government is now planning a final round of review since most of the $9.2 billion grant awarded by the FCC was allocated to more established technologies, including companies laying fiber optic cables.

The FCC is demanding subsidies from SpaceX and others to show them the financial and technical means of building a network. At the same time, SpaceX rivals are calling on new leadership under the FCC and Biden administration to scrutinize these plans, increasing support for their purpose at Capitol Hill, claiming that the FCC would be funding an experiment.

SpaceX’s technology is slower than competing technologies such as fiber optic cables, but the company’s bid was successful in areas where faster providers weren’t interested, such as large areas in the northwest.

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