Send Link mailing list submissions to
[email protected]
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
https://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
[email protected]
You can reach the person managing the list at
[email protected]
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Link digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Study Shows Musk?s Starlink Too Congested To Tackle U.S.
Broadband Woes Despite Billions In New Subsidies (Kim Holburn)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2025 10:12:24 +1000
From: Kim Holburn <[email protected]>
To: Link mailing list <[email protected]>
Subject: [LINK] Study Shows Musk?s Starlink Too Congested To Tackle
U.S. Broadband Woes Despite Billions In New Subsidies
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/07/31/study-shows-musks-starlink-too-congested-to-tackle-u-s-broadband-woes-despite-billions-in-new-subsidies/
?Study Shows Musk?s Starlink Too Congested To Tackle U.S. Broadband Woes
Despite Billions In New Subsidies
Broadband
from the take-me-to-the-limit dept
Thu, Jul 31st 2025 05:28am - Karl Bode
A new study from researchers at X-Lab shows that Elon Musk?s Starlink satellite
broadband service lacks the capacity to put a
serious dent in U.S. broadband. Despite recent efforts by the Trump
administration to rewrite a $42 billion subsidy program with an
eye on giving Musk billions in taxpayer dollars.
The researchers found that given the limited nature of satellite physics, the
more people that use Starlink, the slower the network
is going to get. That?s not a surprise to users who have increasingly seen
slowdowns on the network over the last four years,
resulting in speeds that often don?t even meet the FCC?s fairly weak definition
for broadband (100 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up).
The researchers estimated that pushing the network past any more than 6.7
Starlink customers per square mile results in significant
slowdowns that will get worse. That?s why, they note, it?s a terrible idea for
the Trump administration to redirect infrastructure
bill grant money from more reliable (often fiber-based and locally owned) ISPs
and instead give it to Elon Musk:
? ? ?Many State Offices are concerned that Starlink proposals may be the
lowest bid and alternative proposals may not be within the
15% window for consideration. What this analysis presents is that across many
geographic areas Starlink may not be a qualified
bidder as it may be unable to attain the required 100/20 Mbps service level
(and, in deploying Starlink services, may actually
degrade pre-existing users? services to the point that they no longer receive
minimal broadband speeds).?
Techdirt has been noting for years how Starlink is a niche service. The nature
of satellite physics and capacity means slowdowns and
annoying restrictions are inevitable, and making it scale to permanently meet
real-world demand will be challenging if not impossible.
Some Wall Street analysts have been talking about the Starlink capacity crunch
since at least 2001 (and mostly getting ignored).
Those same analysts have raised questions about whether Starlink can meet its
satellite launch goals in order to meet projected
targets (spoiler: no).
But Starlink has also been criticized for harming astronomical research and the
ozone layer. Starlink customer service is largely
nonexistent. And the service is also too expensive for the folks most in need
of reliable broadband access. It?s getting even more
expensive as Starlink applies up to $750 ?congestion charges? in areas where it
knows it can?t meet demand.
This is all before you get to the fact the company?s CEO is an overt white
supremacist who basically purchased his own authoritarian
U.S. government before his ego ruined the fun.
So yeah, Starlink is a good option if you?re in the middle of nowhere with no
other access, can afford it, and have no qualms about
doing business with a white supremacist.
It?s not so great if you care about the environment, like to shop ethically,
are on a fixed budget, or want to use taxpayer money to
ensure widespread broadband availability. Still, because many Republicans still
worship at the feet of Elon Musk, they tend to view
Starlink as almost akin to magic, helping them justify throwing billions in
undeserved subsidies at their billionaire benefactor.
The first Trump FCC tried to give Musk nearly a billion dollars in subsidies to
deliver Starlink to some traffic medians and airport
parking lots. The Biden FCC reversed the funding, stating (correctly) that
Starlink?s bid gamed the system and they weren?t sure
that Starlink could consistently meet program speed requirements.
That rollback by the Biden FCC resulted in no limit of crying and
teeth-gnashing by Elon Musk and Republicans, who have since
dedicated themselves to throwing billions more at the billionaire.
There?s always waste in these programs. But some of the money being directed
toward Elon Musk?s congested and expensive satellite
service is money directed away from popular community-owned and operated fiber
providers, or many local small businesses with a
genuine, vested interest in bettering the local communities they serve. In
short, it has the very real potential to actually make
U.S. broadband worse. Under the pretense that we?re fixing the problem for good.
--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
+61 404072753
mailto:[email protected] aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request
------------------------------
Subject: Digest Footer
_______________________________________________
Link mailing list
[email protected]
https://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
------------------------------
End of Link Digest, Vol 393, Issue 3
************************************
