(Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Elon Musk is escalating his attacks on the FCC with claims the US regulator put lives in danger by refusing to award $886 million in funding to SpaceX’s Starlink.
“Had the FCC not illegally revoked the SpaceX Starlink award, it would probably have saved lives in North Carolina,” Musk tweeted on Wednesday. “Lawfare costs lives.”
SpaceX and the US government have been shipping hundreds of Starlink dishes to help restore internet access in areas hit by Hurricane Helene. On Tuesday, SpaceX began offering residents living in the hurricane-ravaged regions one month of free access to the satellite internet service.
At the same time, Musk is arguing that SpaceX may have been able to do more had the FCC not denied it $886 million in federal funding two years ago.
On Monday, Musk accused the FCC of engaging in “contemptible political lawfare,” or the act of using legal systems to cripple an opponent. On Wednesday, the SpaceX CEO then took his attacks to a new level by implying the FCC's decision put people in danger since catastrophic flooding left them without phone or internet access and limited options for contacting emergency services. The death toll is currently at 180, the AP reports.
However, the FCC says the $886 million in funding was never revoked; SpaceX merely cleared the initial regulatory hurdle only for the FCC to reject the company's bid after further review.
“Chairwoman Rosenworcel stands by the FCC’s thorough review of a program meant to provide long-term access to reliable and affordable broadband in rural communities,” the commission said in a statement. “In this instance, the agency denied public funds to more than a dozen companies—not just Starlink—who did not meet the program requirements. As an independent agency, the FCC takes seriously its obligation to ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to entities that fully comply with the rules and the law.”
The FCC also told us that even if the $886 million funding had been awarded, the buildout wasn't projected to start until after 2025. The other issue is that SpaceX originally required users in 2022 to pay a one-time upfront fee of $599 to buy the Starlink dish — a condition that prevented the technology from becoming easily available to consumers based in the funding areas.
The commission further questioned what is stopping SpaceX from offering Starlink to the hurricane-stricken areas without using taxpayer dollars.
Although SpaceX has temporarily reduced the dish fee to $299 in recent months, the upfront cost for Starlink was also a key reason why the FCC denied the federal funding. “Starlink’s proposal would have required every subscriber to purchase a $600 dish to simply start to receive the service,” Rosenworcel told US lawmakers in a February letter. “No other services supported by the program included such high start-up costs on rural consumers.”
Rosenworcel sent the letter after a group of Republican lawmakers questioned why the FCC had denied the funds and rejected SpaceX’s appeal. In response, the FCC Chairwoman said: “Among other things, our technical review demonstrated that Starlink had difficulty meeting the basic uplink and downlink speed standards for the program. Our finding has since been confirmed by the company’s most recent publicly available performance data.”
A key goal of the FCC’s funding has been to supply gigabit internet speeds to over 85% of the selected rural locations and at least 100Mbps in download speeds for all 99.7% of the locations. Currently, SpaceX’s official website for Starlink shows the satellite internet service offers a wide range of speeds, which can vary from 50Mbps to over 200 Mbps, depending on location.
Despite the pushback from the FCC, Musk may get the last word. Presidential candidate Donald Trump says he plans on appointing Musk to run a “government efficiency commission” if he wins reelection in November.