{"id":128829,"date":"2025-09-03T04:13:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T04:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/128829\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T04:13:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T04:13:11","slug":"wyoming-picks-amazons-kuiper-over-starlink-for-broadband-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/128829\/","title":{"rendered":"Wyoming Picks Amazon’s Kuiper Over Starlink for Broadband Expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Amazon\u2019s Starlink rival, Project Kuiper,<\/a> still hasn\u2019t launched. But that isn\u2019t stopping Wyoming from selecting it to supply high-speed broadband to over 15,000 underserved locations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proposal is part of Wyoming\u2019s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which will use federal funds to expand high-speed internet access and close coverage gaps in the state. Wyoming has selected<\/a> Project Kuiper to deliver broadband to about 40% of 38,000-plus locations. It\u2019s also awarding Amazon close to $10 million in subsidies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In contrast, SpaceX\u2019s Starlink has only been selected to serve 629 locations in exchange for $1 million in federal funding. The rest of the funding, at over $198 million, will go toward fiber and fixed wireless providers, according<\/a> to broadband marketing executive Doug Adams. <\/p>\n

Wyoming announced the proposal after the Trump administration revised<\/a> the BEAD program\u00a0to emphasize \u201ctechnology neutrality\u201d and cost efficiency, opening the door for satellite internet providers to secure more funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A few states, including Montana<\/a>, Ohio<\/a>, Colorado and now Wyoming, are doing just that by awarding a large portion of their BEAD locations to satellite internet, over faster, but more expensive gigabit fiber internet. Still, many other states are sticking with fiber, which has prompted<\/a> SpaceX to call for the Commerce Department to intervene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wyoming is following Colorado<\/a> in mostly selecting Project Kuiper over Starlink when it comes to satellite internet. Despite years in development, Kuiper has yet to serve a single customer.<\/p>\n

Recommended by Our Editors<\/p>\n

As for why it picked Kuiper, Wyoming\u2019s state broadband office didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment. But the proposal shows Amazon plans on powering download speeds of at least 150Mbps in the BEAD locations, whereas Starlink has only been contracted to deliver 100Mbps downloads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wyoming may have also been concerned about Starlink\u2019s capacity; the satellite internet service is widely available across the US, where it already serves 2 million active customers. Under the BEAD program, both Kuiper and Starlink are required to provide the satellite dish hardware for free and must reserve network capacity for the eligible locations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear when Project Kuiper will launch or how much Amazon will charge for the internet service. The company currently<\/a> only has over 100 Kuiper satellites in orbit, but it plans on launching dozens more in the coming months.<\/p>\n

\"Installing<\/p>\n

\"PCMag<\/p>\n

Installing a Starlink Satellite Dish is Easy With These Tips<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Newsletter<\/p>\n

\n Get Our Best Stories!\n <\/p>\n

Your Daily Dose of Our Top Tech News<\/p>\n

\"What's<\/p>\n

Sign up for our What’s New Now newsletter to receive the latest news, best new products, and expert advice from the editors of PCMag.<\/p>\n

Sign up for our What’s New Now newsletter to receive the latest news, best new products, and expert advice from the editors of PCMag.<\/p>\n

\n By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n

Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!<\/p>\n

About Michael Kan<\/p>\n

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

\"Michael<\/p>\n

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

\n
\n Read Michael’s full bio
\n <\/a>\n <\/p>\n

Read the latest from Michael Kan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Don’t miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google. Amazon\u2019s Starlink rival,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[174,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-128829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-internet","9":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}