FCC Has ‘Serious Doubts’ About SpaceX’s Broadband Service
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has a month to convince officials at the Federal Communications Commission that its service is up to snuff to participate in an upcoming auction for government subsidies to deliver broadband to rural parts of the country, writes Marguerite Reardon at CNET. The agency said it has “serious doubts” that low-Earth orbit satellite providers, like SpaceX, will be able to meet latency requirements to qualify for participation in the auction.
The agency made these assertions in a report published last week detailing the requirements and procedures for the first phase of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction set to begin in October. The FCC said it would allow low-Earth orbit satellite companies to apply for funds as low-latency broadband providers, but it said it was doubtful these companies could meet the sub-100 milliseconds latency requirement.
“We are … unaware of any low-Earth orbit network capable of providing a mass market retail broadband service to residential consumers that could meet the commission’s 100 ms round-trip latency requirements,” the FCC said. “We therefore have serious doubts that any low-Earth orbit networks will be able to meet the short-form application requirements for bidding in the low latency tier.”
SpaceX, the most well-known company promising broadband via low-Earth orbiting satellites, announced this weekend it had deployed 58 satellites into orbit. With its latest launch of satellites, it now has about 500 satellites in orbit. But Starlink, SpaceX’s broadband brand, has yet to offer a commercial service. The company says it should have a limited offering in the northern U.S. and Canada by the end of the year with service expanded globally throughout 2021.
Subscribe Today For
