The Federal Communications Commission is challenging a bid by Elon Musk’s SpaceX for $886 million in rural broadband subsidies, saying some of the money appeared headed for serving parking lots and airports with satellite-delivered broadband. Also Monday, the FCC said it was ready to authorize more than $311 million in broadband funding across 36 states through the fund. SpaceX, among the top winners, had applied for $886 million in subsidies for service from its satellite fleet that’s already aloft. The FCC in a press release about the letters cited “complaints that the program was poised to fund broadband to parking lots and well-served urban areas." More than $700 million of the overall $9.2 billion in subsidies was awarded for deploying broadband in non-rural areas, the policy group said.

Source: Mint July 26, 2021 21:45 UTC