SpaceX gets $886M from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states • Hacker News Board

Re: SpaceX gets $886M from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states

#71

Post by elihu » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 9:34 PM UTC

0xffff2 wrote: post #65

oedoedxef wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Currently, or 5 years from now? Anyone working in the "services" industry, which is most of the United States, can work from home. And if the laws ever change for restaurants and auto-repair shops, I suspect you might see that being done from home as well.

What kind of restaurant job do you see being done from home?

I'd guess that user oedoedxef is referring to running a customer-facing business (a diner, an auto repair shop, or whatever) out of a primary residence, whether that means living in a commercially-zoned property or doing commerce in a residentially-zoned property or perhaps eliminating the distinction entirely.

Re: SpaceX gets $886M from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states

#72

Post by Tuna-Fish » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 9:35 PM UTC

baldeagle wrote: post #5

lgats wrote: post #2

SpaceX has been awarded $885.51 million by the Federal Communications Commission to provide Starlink broadband to 642,925 rural homes and businesses in 35 states. That's $1376.52 in subsidies per customer

It is also over 10 years... so maybe a set of free equipment and $8 off a month? Note: a traditional cable company got more than $1B is subsidies, so maybe the distributed model is actually cheaper. Depends on replacement costs and lifecycle (in both cases).

The subsidy goes to SpaceX, in exchange for offering service at the required locations at the required performance. There is no requirement whatsoever for SpaceX to pass any of it on to the customers, and in fact doing so would be against the spirit of the offering. It's meant for incentivizing the buildout of infrastructure, not for passing on savings to consumers.

Re: SpaceX gets $886M from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states

#73

Post by stetrain » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 9:35 PM UTC

aaronblohowiak wrote: post #33

rictic wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two more questions: Can the subsidy be used to accelerate making the service available to more users sooner, and at higher quality? Most likely yes, because with the design of Starlink, more satellites gives better service. A related question: Were early subsidies into solar power a big help in climbing the learning curve while solar power had uncompetitive performance/$, or did advancements in related disciplines li…

Why should rural lifestyle be subsidized ?

Because not everyone has full freedom in deciding where to live, and access to broadband is a positive factor for financial mobility and economic activity.

Re: SpaceX gets $886M from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states

#74

Post by stetrain » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 9:36 PM UTC

nikolay wrote: post #58

Elon Musk is no Iron Man. All his companies are built with taxpayer money. When did I sign up to be irradiated by his satellites?!

Those darn radio waves! Hold on I gotta take this call on my iPhone.

Re: SpaceX gets $886M from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states

#75

Post by simonh » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 9:37 PM UTC

iptrans wrote: post #60

simonh wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The objective of the government is not just to ensure that one or even two companies have infrastructure reaching most or all rural areas, but to ensure enough players in this field to establish a genuinely competitive market for pervasive rural internet access. The FCC has decided that without this subsidy there would not be enough companies offering enough access to enough areas to meet their mandate. Given this go…

I think you have misunderstood the purpose of RDOF grants. The RDOF grants are not there to establish competition. RDOF grants exist purely for some company to provide broadband service where there is none. If anything it's funding a local monopoly.

If that wee true, since Starlink will reach everywhere, they would only need to fund Starlink. In fact the OP would be correct and no subsidy would be needed since Starlink is already being built.

Re: SpaceX gets $886M from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states

#76

Post by bryanlarsen » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 9:37 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #44

For fun, highest to lowest: Etheric: $3,857/home CentryLink: $3,396/home Frontier: $2,916/home Windstream: $2,715/home LTD Broadband: $2,500/home Connect Everyone: $2,484/home Resound: $2,443/home AMG: $2,082/home GeoLinks: $1,831/home Rural Electric: $1,779/home SpaceX: $1,377/home Comcast: $1,151/home Even just 5 years ago who would have guessed satellite internet would be the cheapest... EDIT: Sorry for the orderi…

Most of the others are providing gigabit versus Starlink's 100Mbit.

Re: SpaceX gets $886M from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states

#77

Post by dkdk8283 » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 9:37 PM UTC

juanbyrge wrote: post #9

If there is any corporate entity I'd happy giving public funding, it would be SpaceX. Their end goal is to settle Mars and potentially other bodies in the solar system. Compared with the absurd amounts of money wasted on defense contractors, I am perfectly happy with funding SpaceX in every way possible.

I wouldn’t characterize defense spending as waste. China is a significant threat, for example, and maintaining superiority over them is of national importance IMO.

Re: SpaceX gets $886M from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states

#78

Post by bawolff » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 9:40 PM UTC

dkdk8283 wrote: post #77

juanbyrge wrote: post #9

If there is any corporate entity I'd happy giving public funding, it would be SpaceX. Their end goal is to settle Mars and potentially other bodies in the solar system. Compared with the absurd amounts of money wasted on defense contractors, I am perfectly happy with funding SpaceX in every way possible.

I wouldn’t characterize defense spending as waste. China is a significant threat, for example, and maintaining superiority over them is of national importance IMO.

I guess we are in cold war 2.0!

Re: SpaceX gets $886M from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states

#79

Post by Retric » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 9:41 PM UTC

dkdk8283 wrote: post #77

juanbyrge wrote: post #9

If there is any corporate entity I'd happy giving public funding, it would be SpaceX. Their end goal is to settle Mars and potentially other bodies in the solar system. Compared with the absurd amounts of money wasted on defense contractors, I am perfectly happy with funding SpaceX in every way possible.

I wouldn’t characterize defense spending as waste. China is a significant threat, for example, and maintaining superiority over them is of national importance IMO.

Some defense spending is reasonable, but we could get a lot while limiting things to say 200 - 300 Billion per year. That’s 4-6 times what the UK spends for example and they have 2 aircraft carriers etc.

Re: SpaceX gets $886M from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states

#80

Post by wogijrwoiroij » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 9:41 PM UTC

tzm wrote: post #14

I live in the Mission hills of SF Bay and pay $600 / mo for internet via mobile hotspot (LTE). HughesNet is terrible. Nothing else is available. I can't wait for Starlink beta!

bro why are you paying so much for LTE?

you could get one with 400gb LTE data for $80 a month: https://www.onlinewirelessmall.com/att-hotspot-49-99prepaid-...

or there's these ones that don't have a cap??? https://www.onlinewirelessmall.com/att-netgear779s-with-plan...

or buy a grandfathered plan off of ebay that has truly unlimited (no throttling) for less than $100 a month

or there's dozens of other options with hundreds of GBs of data per month that are a fraction of the $600 a month you're paying. There is no reason to be paying that much and there are other options you haven't considered.