Musk’s Broadband Satellites Have Long-Term Costs, States Say

The Trump administration is making changes to a $42 billion broadband subsidy program that will benefit satellite internet providers like Elon Musk’s Starlink, but some state and federal officials worry the technology isn’t robust enough to connect Americans on a mass scale and at affordable rates.

The Biden administration’s vision for the Broadband Equity and Access Deployment Program (BEAD), designed to deliver fast, reliable home internet service to every US household,leaned heavily on fiber-optic lines, a technology that’s expensive to install but can last for decades. The shift toward satellites is a result of extensive lobbying by ...