(Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
FCC Chair Brendan Carr is going out of his way to promote SpaceX’s Starlink to European allies, framing it as a choice between US and Chinese technology.
Carr told the Financial Times that democracies in Europe need to "focus on the real long-term bogey: the rise of the Chinese Communist party," adding, "If you’re concerned about Starlink, just wait for the CCP's version, then you’ll be really worried."
The pitch is unusual since federal regulators have tried to stay neutral. But it’s no secret Carr is a major supporter of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and views Starlink as an important technology to deliver high-speed broadband to rural and remote areas.
In Europe, Starlink has become especially crucial to Ukraine’s defense against Russia's ongoing invasion. However, European countries are scrambling to find a replacement after reports emerged that the White House had threatened to pull the plug on the Starlink access if Ukraine refused to agree to a minerals deal.
It hasn’t helped that Musk has been willing to sling insults at EU officials, although the SpaceX CEO insisted last month: “To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals.”
The EU has plans to build its own satellite internet service, IRIS², but it isn’t scheduled to start operating until the early 2030s. So it looks like Carr is concerned about Europe using China’s emerging satellite services. Some countries already rely on telecommunications equipment from Huawei, although the company's technology is restricted or banned in other markets like the US.
“If Europe has its own satellite constellation then great, I think the more the better,” he told the FT. “But more broadly, I think Europe is caught a little bit between the US and China. And it’s sort of time for choosing.”
In the meantime, China’s Qianfan "Thousand Sails" satellite constellation is still in its early stages. But it’s poised to compete with Starlink in foreign markets across the globe.