Starlink

Content tagged with "Starlink"

Related Topics
Displaying 1 - 10 of 46

Follow the Money: Comcast, Starlink, and the BEAD Backslide - Episode 664 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

By

In this episode of the podcast, Chris is joined by Karl Bode and Sean Gonsalves to unpack three major broadband stories shaping the moment: 

California’s new law giving tenants the right to opt out of monopolistic bulk billing deals, Comcast’s latest play to cozy up to Washington power, and how the federal “benefit of the bargain” shift is gutting BEAD and funneling billions toward Starlink. 

The trio discusses how these developments expose deeper issues of corruption, enforcement, and the growing divide between corporate priorities and community broadband needs.

This show is 28 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license

Read More

After BEAD: The Future of Broadband and Accountability - Episode 663 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

By

In this episode of the podcast, Chris and ILSR’s Jordan Pittman sit down for a candid, post-retreat conversation about what comes after the BEAD program.

They dig into the gaps left behind by federal broadband mapping, why millions of Americans will still be unconnected or unable to afford service, and how short-term policymaking risks leaving rural communities behind.

The pair also unpack the challenges with Starlink’s limitations, the false promise of corporate “efficiency,” and why public investment—and accountability—remain key to real digital equity.

This show is 39 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license

Read More

The Retreat from Fiber, Local Government Inaction, and 8 Million Americans Offline | Episode 123 of the Connect This! Show

Connect This! Show
By

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (Tak Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about all the recent broadband news that's fit to print. Topics include:

Join us live on October 24th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show.

Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Read More

How Rural America Gets Left Behind - Episode 660 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

By

In this episode of the podcast, Chris reconnects with Jonathan Chambers from Conexon to unpack the past, present, and future of federal broadband policy. 

They revisit the lessons of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), the wave of defaults that followed, and why definitions of “broadband” have so often favored weaker technologies over fiber.

Jonathan shares insights on the BEAD program, the risks of funneling funds to satellite providers, and how policy choices today will shape whether rural communities thrive or wither tomorrow.

Despite frustrations, he ends with a call for evidence-based decisions and hope that local voices can still steer broadband investment where it’s needed most.

This show is 48 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license

Read More

How Federal Changes Could Derail BEAD - Episode 659 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

By

In this episode of the podcast, Chris is joined by Sarah Morris, Managing Director of Technology at Waxman Strategies and former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at NTIA.

Sarah offers an insider’s perspective on the BEAD program, reflecting on her time helping design and launch the $42.5 billion initiative to close the digital divide.

Together, they unpack the Trump administration’s recent push to steer more households toward satellite service, what it means for state-led broadband planning, and the risks of undermining Congress’s original vision for BEAD.

The conversation also dives into the importance of non-deployment funds, why state-driven processes matter, and how to keep accountability and community needs at the center of federal broadband policy.

This show is 41 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license

Read More

In Our View: Trump Administration Doubles Down on Pulling Investment Away from Rural Internet Access

By on

Update Below - New Information

NTIA, the federal office administering the largest single investment to expand Internet access across the nation, appears to once again be changing the BEAD program in ways that would only force states to further reduce investment in rural areas.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who oversees the NTIA office, has already introduced delays to the $42.5 billion Internet access expansion program, creating a year-long slow-down at a time when many states could be already connecting homes.

Now, even as the administration claims to be expediting the process, NTIA seems to have added yet another time-consuming wrinkle: a super secret “Best and Final Offer” round imposed on states after submitting final proposals.

US Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick testifies before Congress

A quick reminder of where we are: states were forced to redo all their work in recent weeks to follow new rules aimed at cutting costs by making the program demonstrably worse for hundreds of thousands of families.

Rather than spend money to help get these families access to comparably affordable fiber networks, states now have to push billions toward low-Earth orbit satellite services which offer them far worse connectivity at much higher prices to each subscriber. And yet, NTIA called this process of reducing investment in rural America the “Benefit of the Bargain” round.

Read More

Fiber Acquisitions and the New BEAD Numbers Are In | Episode 120 of the Connect This! Show

Connect This! Show
By

Catch the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, with co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (TAK Broadband) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about all the recent broadband news that's fit to print. Topics include:

Join us live on September 5th at 2pm ET, or listen afterwards wherever you get your podcasts.

Email us at [email protected] with feedback and ideas for the show.

Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.

Read More

High Cost Of The “Bargain:” Trump Administration BEAD Changes Herald Slower, More Expensive Broadband

Elon Musk stands with his hands on his hip, back to camera surveying exploded rocket debris
By on

Recent Trump administration changes to a massive federal broadband grant program are lowering standards for broadband access, shifting the focus away from affordability and equity, and potentially redirecting billions of dollars away from future-proof fiber networks toward slower, more expensive satellite options that don’t seem likely to fix U.S. broadband woes.

But states, worried about losing an historic round of broadband grants, may be too intimidated to be up front about the potential downside of changes the Trump administration calls “the benefit of the bargain.”  

That’s the early story coming out of states like Tennessee, Colorado, and Texas, where state leaders are being forced to dramatically revamp billions of dollars in Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant planning.

In all three states the changes have introduced new delays and lowered last mile quality control standards. But an early look at the revamped bidding process in all three states shows that billions of dollars are likely being redirected away from locally-owned fiber networks to billionaire-owned low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite broadband options insufficient to the task.

Read More

Sky High Promises: The Limits of Starlink - Episode 657 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

By

In this episode of the podcast, Sascha Meinrath returns to unpack the mythology surrounding Starlink and similar “miracle” broadband solutions. 

He and the CBN team (Chris, Sean, and Ry) dive into how overhyping space-based Internet distracts from building reliable, ground-up infrastructure that communities actually need. 

From confusing speed metrics to misleading policy narratives, they explore how Starlink has become a tech mirage—promising abundance while leaving many still unconnected.

This show is 49 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license

Read More

New Research: Starlink Unlikely to Meet BEAD Speed Needs At Scale

Starlink rocket in mid air after launch
By on

In the wake of the Trump administration’s re-writing the rules around how federal funds can be spent to expand high-speed Internet access, state broadband offices are in the midst of revamping their broadband deployment grant programs to comply with a “technology-neutral” framework recently imposed on the $42.5 billion federal BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) program.

Though most states hoped to maximize federal grant funding to build fiber networks, the new guidance released by NTIA in June requires states to ignore the aim of Congress enacted under the bipartisan infrastructure law.

The new NTIA rules call for states to de-prioritize fiber and give equal weight to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technologies – something many observers see as a gift to Starlink and a way for the President’s biggest campaign contributor to hoover up additional subsidies.

As states wrestle with how to re-do their scoring rubrics used to determine grant awards, today four leading broadband deployment scholars working with the X-Lab released an analysis that may help state broadband offices evaluate “the capacities and saturation limits of the Starlink satellite infrastructure.”

The overarching goal is to help states determine where – and if – Starlink can meet federal requirements for broadband, which is defined as delivering minimum connection speeds of at least 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload.

Read More
Subscribe to Starlink