Starlink proposed $1300 per customer. His agreement was cancelled, and it has been parceled out to operators like this...

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And this....

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buzzardb267 said:

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Starlink proposed $1300 per customer. His agreement was cancelled, and it has been parceled out to operators like this...

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And this....

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Thanks for the facts.

JasonD2005 said:

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I was told by a TxDOT representative at a luncheon that internet service was transportation rather than communication. So maybe the FCC director is just looking in the wrong department.

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I was conned into going to an "alternative transportation" conference years ago and all I learned was that a bicyclists' sweat don't stink! They were trying to justify riding your bike to work, downtown, in the Texas summer.

The left has been pushing this agenda for decades and have nothing to show for it but rich friends and kickbacks. If we could get an actual true audit of our government even the left would be shocked at total waste and destruction. There isn't anything Harris touches that stands up - well there is one thing.

It's wild that Harris ran on the platform of connecting every person to internet ...

BY 2030!

Most importantly - Beyonce has a reliable internet connection! Thanks, Harris.

PCC_80 said:

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"After all of that time, not one person has been connected to the internet.

"Not one home, not one business, not even one shovel worth of dirt has been turned.

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Almost willing to bet that almost all of that $42B is gone now.

Dems/Libs pass huge bills with huge promises and the money almost always goes "Poof Gone" before anything ever gets done.

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Remind me, what is 10% of 42B?

I work in telecom and support rural internet providers that are supposed to be the recipients of this program. A lot of them aren't exactly excited about this, and not a single dollar has been allocated. The only state that is even close to issuing funds is Louisiana.

The process goes something like this... the NTIA reviewed plans from the FCC to determine how many physical addresses did not have "broadband service" available to them in 2021. The FCC then allowed a challenge period for providers to review that data and call out and any inconsistencies based on addresses they already served or passed in their respective coverage territories. The maps were updated, and dollars were allocated to each state, and the states were responsible for coming up with a plan on how to allocate those dollars to serve 100% of the un-served addresses.

Well, there were also some other mandates that got thrown into the funding that make the whole thing stink... raised minimum wages for workers, DEI requirements, etc. That, plus having to provide matching funds and not enough long-term money to support the investment once installed make it a less appealing proposition for most providers.

I have a suspicion that this project will be blown up, or massively reduced. And Elon/Starlink are going to be very happy (and save taxpayers a lot of money). Fiber is still a better long-term solution compared to Starlink or fixed wireless, but it's VERY expensive to deploy and you need some kind of population density for it to make sense. Most of the "unserved" areas in this NTIA BEAD program are extremely remote and isolated addresses where fiber will never make sense. There are better programs out there to provide funding for rural services (USDA RUS).

And to the point earlier about consultants making BANK off of this... you are spot on. Lots of grant writers, attorneys and engineering firms are having a great time.