Jared Isaacman, CEO of integrated payment processing solution Shift4, took part in the first-ever private spacewalk on Thursday, September 12, 2024. (Credit: @SpaceX via X)
Last year's decision Federal Communications Commission (FCC) The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to reaffirm its cancellation of SpaceX's contract with Starlink to connect rural homes and businesses to the internet has come under fire after the FCC chairman called for greater competition to Starlink.
“There are agencies that are saying Starlink won't be able to provide adequate service in 2023,” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said in an interview with Fox Business. High-speed InternetAnd now in 2024 they're saying they're going to throw away the word monopoly because they have such a high level of capacity to provide high speed internet. I just can't see how what's going on here can be squared with a fair application of the law or the facts. This just looks like partisan politics, in my view.”
“I have no problem with people saying we need more competition. I agree we need more competition. But I think people are going too far in throwing around the word monopoly so casually,” Carr said. “Did I say monopoly? No, but the word monopoly was used in the same speech where I said we need more competition from Starlink.”
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Starlink devices access the internet via a satellite connection. (Photo Illustration: Scott Olson/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Four years ago, the FCC launched an effort to award grants to expand high-speed internet access across the country. SpaceX's Starlink It awarded $885 million to connect more than 640,000 homes and businesses. The agency revoked the award in 2022, citing Starlink's insufficient capabilities to meet program requirements, and reaffirmed that decision in December 2023.
When the decision was reaffirmed last year, FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel said, “After careful legal, technical and policy review, the FCC has determined that this applicant is not eligible to receive nearly $900 million in funding from this program.” But Rosenworcel now has concerns about Starlink's market position in providing internet service via satellite, citing monopoly issues.
At a conference last week, Rosenworcel said Starlink “owns almost two-thirds of the satellites in space today and accounts for a very high percentage of internet traffic. Our economy cannot benefit from monopolies, so we have to bring in more space players, companies that can develop constellations and innovations in space.”
“Any communications market with competition is stronger, prices are lower and innovation is greater, and space should be no exception,” she said. Rosenworcel added that the FCC is helping new entrants understand how the agency works and how to handle license applications. “Outreach is part of our ongoing efforts because we know there will be a lot of new entrants in this space,” Rosenworcel said. Space Economy“
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SpaceX founder Elon Musk is facing regulatory scrutiny over some of the billionaire entrepreneur's businesses. (Saul Martinez/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Carr explained that he and the other Republican-appointed commissioners on the FCC opposed the FCC's decision to revoke Starlink subsidies, noting that the decision came after President Biden said in November 2022: SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk He said the company's relationships with other countries “deserve consideration,” and that it has led to an “unprecedented campaign of regulatory harassment,” adding that the FCC joined other federal agencies in this decision.
“The real loser here is rural America,” Carr explained, “We're now planning to spend billions of dollars to bring high-speed internet service to those same places, or parts of those same places, and we're going to spend it on pennies.”
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FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel (left) criticized Starlink's market power in satellite internet service, prompting FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr (right) to point out the inconsistency in the FCC's cancellation of Starlink's rural internet contract. (Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“They're spending taxpayer money to solve a problem that they could have expanded internet service to parts of the country if they had stuck with the Starlink deal. The Starlink deal was basically government subsidy of $1,300 per location…Now the government is spending about $100,000 per location, and in some cases more, to build fiber optic high-speed internet in these places,” he said.
“There are areas of the country that are very expensive to serve, so if you're putting fiber in those areas, I understand the numbers make sense,” Carr explained, “but if there are other technologies, you have to pursue them in a technology-neutral way and make sure you manage that technology well.” Taxpayer dollarsBut with Elon Musk, it seems to me that this notion is starting to crumble.”
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Carr said the U.S. should support SpaceX's Starlink and its emerging competitor, Amazon's Kuiper. Chinese satellite companies The Chinese Communist Party has the ability to fund rivals that could spread their totalitarian approach to content control and censorship around the world.
“What the U.S. government should do now is to do everything it can to give Starlink, Kuiper, and all other U.S.-based internet providers the boost they need to continue to expand their advantage over the Chinese Communist Party as it confronts its competitors,” Carr said.
FOX Business has reached out to the FCC regarding Rosenworcel's comments about Starlink and monopoly concerns.
