FCC rejects Starlink’s bid for rural internet subsidies due to its $600 satellite dish

Photo by Nilay Patel / The VergeThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rejected Starlink’s application for $885 million in federal subsidies that it would use to provide satellite internet to broadband customers in rural areas. The FCC cites the SpaceX-owned company’s $600 dish and states that Starlink “failed to demonstrate” that it “could deliver the promised service.”
The funding is part of the broader $9.2 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund that provides an incentive for telecom companies to extend internet service to rural and underserved locations. In 2020, Starlink won an initial $885.5 million subsidy as part of a Phase 1 rollout of the program. The FCC also rejected LTD Broadband’s bid for the funding after it initially received $1.3 billion in…

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