Aug 16, 2022
Elon Musk’s bid for a $886 million Starlink subsidy was rejected by the FCC: ‘it failed to demonstrate’ that it ‘could deliver’
Posted by Kelvin Dafiaghor in categories: Elon Musk, internet, satellites
The Federal Communications Commission denied SpaceX’s bid for $886 million in US subsidies on Wednesday.
Elon Musk’s startup was seeking funds to provide its satellite internet service to rural communities in nearly 650,000 locations across 35 states. The FCC funding is part of a $9.2 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund — an effort to bring WiFi to remote areas of the country where it would be more expensive to serve customers.
Starlink and LTD Broadband were both denied FCC subsidies. The agency said in a press release that both companies “failed to demonstrate that the providers could deliver the promised service.”