{"id":79757,"date":"2025-08-20T08:51:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T08:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/79757\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T08:51:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T08:51:20","slug":"after-virginia-spacex-also-protests-louisianas-wasteful-fiber-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/79757\/","title":{"rendered":"After Virginia, SpaceX Also Protests Louisiana’s ‘Wasteful’ Fiber Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

SpaceX is trying to block Louisiana\u2019s plan to use over $400 million for fiber installations instead of allocating more money for satellite-based services like Starlink<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“SpaceX applied to serve virtually all BEAD households for less than $100 million,\u201d the company wrote in a Friday letter<\/a> to the Louisiana Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity.<\/p>\n

The federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is distributing $42.5 billion to help US states expand high-speed internet in underserved areas. Louisiana decided<\/a> to use Starlink for just 10,327 of the 127,000+ locations set to be covered by BEAD funding. <\/p>\n

Starlink is slated to receive about $7.7 million, or about $750 per location.\u00a0In its letter, SpaceX says it applied to “serve virtually all” Louisiana locations for less than $100 million. But the state opted for fiber connections “at an average per-location cost of $4,449.”<\/p>\n

\u201cAs such, Louisiana\u2019s proposal includes over $400 million…in wasteful and unnecessary taxpayer spending,\u201d the company wrote in the letter, which PCMag received through a FOIA request.<\/p>\n

The letter accuses Louisiana of violating the Commerce Department\u2019s new rules for the BEAD program, which was overhauled<\/a> in June to prioritize \u201ctechnology neutrality” and paved the way for satellite internet to receive more of the BEAD funding. SpaceX also argues the rules call for states \u201cto award grants based on the lowest cost to the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLouisiana did not engage in a single technical discussion with SpaceX,\u201d the letter says. \u201cSpaceX is aware, however, of a legion of fiber lobbyists and other hangers-on seeking to personally benefit from massive taxpayer spending. Louisiana has not shared any analysis with SpaceX that could even conceivably justify its determination with respect to SpaceX\u2019s application.”<\/p>\n

\"Starlink<\/p>\n

\n (Credit: Ernest Ankomah\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n

The letter demands that Louisiana revise its BEAD proposal\u00a0or that the Commerce Department\u2019s National Telecommunications and Information Administration intervene. <\/p>\n

Gigabit or Bust<\/p>\n

SpaceX protested<\/a> a similar proposal in Virginia, where Starlink is set to get $3.2 million of that state’s $613 million fund; nearly $500 million will go to fiber, which can deliver gigabit speeds. At two pages, the Louisiana document is shorter than the\u00a0seven-page letter<\/a> to Virginia. But both demand that Starlink play a larger role in each state\u2019s BEAD programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Louisiana\u2019s Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a state document, Louisiana says<\/a> its BEAD proposal was designed “to minimize costs, maximize results, and prioritize projects that can be easily scaled with the necessary capacity to support real-time emerging needs and long-term demands.” <\/p>\n

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The state also used factors such as “spectrum, the impact of tree canopy on service availability, high customer density, and potential demand” in determining the ISP providers. <\/p>\n

Although SpaceX has argued that Starlink can be deployed immediately for lower costs, other critics have slammed<\/a> the company for trying to take BEAD subsidies away from faster gigabit fiber installations, which can cost less than Starlink’s $120 monthly fee. <\/p>\n

Recommended by Our Editors<\/p>\n

In response to SpaceX protesting Virginia’s BEAD plan, Gigi Sohn, the Biden administration\u2019s former pick<\/a> for FCC commissioner, wrote<\/a>: “My concern is that this filing is more about saber rattling and frightening other states into granting the company more locations even if they can’t provide priority broadband service.”<\/p>\n

Although Starlink excels at providing broadband in rural and remote areas, it generally offers slower speeds, closer to 100Mbps to 200Mbps in the US, where the satellite internet system is also facing network congestion. Nevertheless, the company is preparing to upgrade<\/a> Starlink with more capacity and its own gigabit speeds, pending FCC approval and development of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle.<\/p>\n

The Commerce Department hasn\u2019t commented on SpaceX\u2019s protests. However, Louisiana\u2019s BEAD proposal will need to receive approval from the NTIA before the funding can be awarded. <\/p>\n

Under the BEAD program, SpaceX is only obligated<\/a> to provide a free Starlink dish to users in the underserved areas and reserve network capacity. The revised BEAD program has also revoked<\/a> a state’s ability to set the pricing for internet plans meant for low-income users<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don’t miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag<\/a> as a preferred source on Google.<\/p>\n

\"5<\/p>\n

\"PCMag<\/p>\n

5 Things to Know About Starlink Satellite Internet<\/p>\n

About Michael Kan<\/p>\n

\n Senior Reporter\n <\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

I’ve been working as a journalist for over 15 years\u2014I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017.<\/p>\n

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Read the latest from Michael Kan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SpaceX is trying to block Louisiana\u2019s plan to use over $400 million for fiber installations instead of allocating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1638,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-79757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-internet","tag-internet","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}