Elon Musk (freepik photo, YouTube/TED)
A commissioner from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has criticized the agency’s decision to reject SpaceX’s bid for $886 million in US subsidies.
SpaceX, Elon Musk’s aerospace manufacturing company, sought funding to expand its Starlink satellite Internet to homes and businesses in remote areas in nearly 650,000 locations in 35 US states.
However, the FCC rejected SpaceX’s proposal on Aug. 10 because the company “failed to demonstrate that the carriers can provide the promised service,” the agency said in a press release. LTD Broadband was also denied a subsidy.
Brendan Carr, a Republican commissioner, wrote in a statement posted on Twitter that FCC leadership reversed the decision on SpaceX’s request without getting approval or a vote from the agency’s commissioners.
Carr said he was surprised to learn through an FCC press release that the agency had changed its mind on providing funding to Starlink.
“By reversing course, the FCC has simply chosen to vaporize that commitment and replace it with … nothing,” Carr said in a statement. “It’s a decision to leave families waiting on the wrong side of the digital divide when we have the technology to provide them with fast service today.”
As part of the FCC’s plan to introduce high-speed Internet to rural areas in the US, SpaceX won tentative approval in 2020 for funding of $886 million to deploy Starlink.
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However, FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenwortzel said in a press release earlier this month that it doesn’t make sense to fund the “still developing technology,” which costs $599 for the user terminal, nor to afford to subsidize ventures that don’t deliver. the speeds they promised.
Carr said in his statement Wednesday that data cited by the FCC showed that Starlink speeds have increased year over year, so the agency’s arguments “do not hold up.” He also said the FCC proposed awards for slower ISPs, which cost consumers much more.
“The denial here is without legal basis,” Carr said, adding that it “constitutes a clear error and clearly exceeds the authority of the agency.”
This matter comes amid the US Air Force awarding SpaceX a $1.92 million contract for Starlink to support US military bases in Europe and Africa.
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