spacetoday.net: FCC revokes SpaceX Starlink subsidies

Posted: Sat, Dec 16, 2023, 11:05 AM ET (1605 GMT)
The FCC upheld a decision to revoke nearly $900 million in rural broadband subsidies from SpaceX. The company was in line for $886 million over 10 years to deliver high-speed broadband to nearly 643,000 homes and businesses in 35 states through the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). The FCC concluded, though, that SpaceX failed to meet RDOF requirements to provide downlink speeds at least 100 megabits per second (Mbps) and uplink speeds of at least 20 Mbps. Starlink currently provides a medium downlink speed of 64.5 Mbps and uplink speed of 9.72 Mbps in the U.S., according to research firm Ookla. SpaceX said it was "deeply disappointed and perplexed" by the FCC decision, which it argued singles out SpaceX for not meeting RDOF speed requirements years before it had any obligation to do so.