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US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink

reuters.com

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Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink

#261

Post by DoesntMatter22 »

throw0101c wrote: post #234
mdasen wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starlink (and Musk in general) have been over-promising and under-delivering for years now. Starlink claimed 150Mbps back in 2020 and that speeds would double to 300Mbps by the end of 2021.[1] Instead, speeds have halved.[2] At this point, T-Mobile is likely serving more rural high speed internet customers with greater speeds (T-Mobile has 4.2M home internet customers and Ookla's stats show 34% to be rural for 1.4M;…

> […] (and Musk in general) have been over-promising and under-delivering for years now. Related, "Tesla FSD Timeline": > September 2014: They will be a factor of 10 safer than a person [at the wheel] in a six-year time frame * https://motherfrunker.ca/fsd/ * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38625380 (earlier today)

To be fair FSD is the hardest software problem that man has ever attempted.

Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink

#262

Post by madaxe_again »

TheAlchemist wrote: post #237

It looks like it's becoming apparent that Elon's empire is based on a lot of impossible promises. Starlink is probably one of them. A perfect 'business' for Musk. You can show something great - high speed internet in remote areas - and then extrapolate that - just think about the whole world etc... Faster than fibre, with V2... Thing is, this business is probably not economically viable. It can work if not a lot of p…

How is it “maintained afloat” by government money, when it receives no subsidies? The only government payment for starlink that I am aware of is for the terminals in Ukraine.

Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink

#263

Post by sangnoir »

rapsey wrote: post #135
manuelabeledo wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Starlink service is so obviously phenomenal to anyone who's used it, this isn't going to change that or effect SpaceX's success one bit. Starlink success, and to that extent, SpaceX, are arguably tied to government money. I would say that not getting almost $1B may impact their operations quite a bit.

VCs are falling over themselves trying to get in on SpaceX. If there were to go public they would immediately be worth hundreds of billions. It will likely be one of the biggest IPOs in history. They are not that strapped for cash.

> They are not that strapped for cash.

Exactly - because they were/are getting boatloads of cash from the government. There is no shame in that.

Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink

#264

Post by toomuchtodo »

cubefox wrote: post #224
toomuchtodo wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather the federal government just roll out fiber and not put Starlink and Elon in a position of power. That fiber will always be in the ground and available. Elon has shown himself to be unworthy of any position where trust and good judgement is required. If it costs more, that is a premium worth paying. Fool me once. https://www.internetforall.gov/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases...…

> Elon has shown himself to be unworthy of any position where trust and good judgement is required. That's an insane statement given the unprecedented success of SpaceX.

That doesn’t negate the fact that he wields power against others when it meets his needs. He’s effective, I don’t dispute that, but still needs a metaphorical cage built around him to protect others.

Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink

#265

Post by grecy »

TheAlchemist wrote: post #237

It looks like it's becoming apparent that Elon's empire is based on a lot of impossible promises. Starlink is probably one of them. A perfect 'business' for Musk. You can show something great - high speed internet in remote areas - and then extrapolate that - just think about the whole world etc... Faster than fibre, with V2... Thing is, this business is probably not economically viable. It can work if not a lot of p…

Starlink was never designed to be faster than fibre, and it was certainly never designed or intended for use by people that ave access to fibre (or cable, or LTE for that matter).

SpaceX have re-iterated this on many, many occasions.

Anyone who things otherwise simply doesn't understand the product.

Starlink is designed for people who live in remote areas that have no access to any of that.

Go out right now and see how life changing it is for those people. All across Northern Canada & rural Australia I've met dozens of people who previously had access to dial-up AT BEST in 2022, and now have solid broadband connections.

Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink

#266

Post by timeon »

martindbp wrote: post #242
TheAlchemist wrote: post #237

It looks like it's becoming apparent that Elon's empire is based on a lot of impossible promises. Starlink is probably one of them. A perfect 'business' for Musk. You can show something great - high speed internet in remote areas - and then extrapolate that - just think about the whole world etc... Faster than fibre, with V2... Thing is, this business is probably not economically viable. It can work if not a lot of p…

[flagged]

Can you post link that is not login-walled?

Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink

#267

Post by bdcravens »

DoesntMatter22 wrote: post #261
throw0101c wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> […] (and Musk in general) have been over-promising and under-delivering for years now. Related, "Tesla FSD Timeline": > September 2014: They will be a factor of 10 safer than a person [at the wheel] in a six-year time frame * https://motherfrunker.ca/fsd/ * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38625380 (earlier today)

To be fair FSD is the hardest software problem that man has ever attempted.

Possibly, but then don't make promises and have the audacity to charge for it

Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink

#268

Post by inemesitaffia »

paxys wrote: post #84
pmorici wrote: post #63

Starlink service is so obviously phenomenal to anyone who's used it, this isn't going to change that or effect SpaceX's success one bit. The FCC's actions here are just embarrassing their agency by exposing their petty ineptitude and harming whomever this program was supposed to help.

[flagged]

There's no continue. And your share nonsense is nonsense. Where's the shares from other applicants?

Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink

#269

Post by Waterluvian »

madaxe_again wrote: post #262
TheAlchemist wrote: post #237

It looks like it's becoming apparent that Elon's empire is based on a lot of impossible promises. Starlink is probably one of them. A perfect 'business' for Musk. You can show something great - high speed internet in remote areas - and then extrapolate that - just think about the whole world etc... Faster than fibre, with V2... Thing is, this business is probably not economically viable. It can work if not a lot of p…

How is it “maintained afloat” by government money, when it receives no subsidies? The only government payment for starlink that I am aware of is for the terminals in Ukraine.

If it recives no subsidies then not getting a $900M subsidy shouldn't be a surprise!

Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink

#270

Post by tick_tock_tick »

I_Am_Nous wrote: post #26
trident5000 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are future speed metrics, not current speed thresholds. And the performance metrics have been a constant shifting goalpost. You can read FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr's letter on this matter here: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-23-105A2.pdf This is most likely political.

I read that letter, and was unconvinced that it's anything more than the FCC not wanting to gamble with nearly 1/16th of the total RDOF grant money (for that round) and would rather give it to a company that can be reasonably expected to hit the obligatory throughput. If Starlink bid for 25/3 they might have made it.

So basically now 15/16th of the money goes into a void to never actually get service to anyone.
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