Less than 24 hours after President Trump threatened Finish Elon Musk’s government contractstheir department of trade published a notice This could change tens of billions of dollars in federal funding to Musk’s Starlink Internet service.
Starlink is expected to receive up to $ 20 billion in broadband capital, access and deployment of the program under the new rules, up to $ 4.1 million that could be obtained previously, according to a Wall Street Journal Report Posted in March.
“This is a great gift to Starlink,” Cnet Drew Garner, policy director of the Benton Broadband and Society Institute, told Cnet Drew Garner. “For me, it looks like another instance of Taco Trump that got up and deliver the money. Let his secretary give billions of dollars a day Musk ask for his arrest.”
The Bead Program was signed by the law as part of the Investment and Infrastructure Investment Law of 2021. It is the largest investment that the Government has ever made to expand Internet access: a set of money that all Americans had a high-speed internet option in their home.
Critics like to point out that it has been more than three years since the program was created, and there are no houses related to Bead yet. However, it is largely in the way with the time line established in the original law. The Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick Trump’s victory would change billions of dollars In money for Bead to Starlink.
A “neutral technology” approach
Bead was written to prioritize fiber expansion in rural areas, but new rules order a “technological” neutral approach. Although the previous rules gave the brands to consider the type of connection in the way they granted money, the new rules essentially require that the money needed to go to the cheaper bidder.
“The whole idea of technology neutrality does not make much sense in this context,” said Evan Feinman, Bead’s former director who came out in March with an email warning of impending changes. He added that different types of internet connections “have different performance capabilities, have different costs for operation and have different reliability features. And they have very different speeds.”
The fiber is considered widely the gold standard for Internet connections and the states have been overwhelmingly granting money for fiber Internet suppliers. The exception was in especially remote areas, where it may be prohibitive to install fiber in shape by home.
“The fiber is excellent, but our costs estimates are shown about $ 120 (thousand) $ 130,000 per location only to connect with fiber,” Greg Conte, director of the Texas Flag Development Office, told me in a previous interview on the rural areas in West Texas.
Starlink will still have to compete with other Internet suppliers in all these states and there is no guarantee that they have the cheapest offers. Feinman also predicted that unlicensed fixed suppliers would benefit from the new rules.
New rules also eliminate labor, environmental and accessibility requirements
“Starlink will be a significant beneficiary of these changes,” said Feinman. “It’s not the only thing they do.”
There are several adjustments to the new rules that are aimed at accelerating the deployment process by eliminating “regulatory loads”. The requirements for the labor used in pearl projects, climate resilience plans and network neutrality protections are eliminated.
But what jumped the most was what was called “back rates”. Previously, suppliers who took money from balls were needed Offer a discount plan for low income residents. Is Well understood That the reason most people do not have the Internet is not because it is not available, they cannot afford it. It’s been a year since the The affordable connectivity program ended. The federal grant provided $ 30 per month to help the low income homes pay the service on the Internet.
The Internet is more expensive in rural areas: Starlink plans start from $ 80 a month, with an initial cost of $ 349 for teams, and many homes could fight to allow any connection that after the Bead construction is completed.
“Today, Secretary Lutnick has started the heart of the accessibility provisions in Bead,” Garner said. “Basically it only allows suppliers to self -conerting that they offer something affordable.”
Will Bol changes get the Internet faster in rural areas?
Broadband state offices have expressed a dreaded and direct alarm when discussing the potential changes for their reduction in the game. In April, a group of 115 state legislators sent an open letter to Secretary Lutnick who urged him not to wrap the program.
“The federates broke it and the states fixed it and the federates are preparing to break again,” Missouri’s state representative Louis Riggs, a Republican, He told me at that time. “Why don’t you leave the states to decide what they want to do in terms of technology instead of putting your thumb on the scale?”
The states will have 90 days to fulfill the new obligations. Many states were already near the finish line of their spending plans, and Louisiana, Delaware and Nevada had even received final approvals. Ironically, the effort to streamline the ball can end up slowing it down.
“They are very worried, because from what we can say, the 90 -day clock starts today,” said Garner. “All of them are halfway and only had the carpet that was taken out below. It’s hard to see how all this work does not collapses right now.”
