[pardoned_turkey]

I'm in a rural location. Not that rural, about five minutes away from a town of 10,000 people. I have exactly three internet choices: old-school satellite (with 600 ms latency), unreliable 10 Mbit DSL for $150/month, or Starlink for $120/month. Many of my neighbors aren't as lucky and don't even get DSL.

My DSL provider received hundreds of millions in government subsidies and did nothing to improve the service in the region, and brazenly lied about it to the FCC. I know that it's fashionable to criticize Elon Musk, and it's often justified, but Starlink is far more deserving of government funds than most of the grifter ISPs who actually get the subsidies.

[pclmulqdq]

If you start a WISP and service your neighbors, the FCC would probably be happy to provide you a subsidy now that they have an extra $1 billion that isn't going to Starlink.

[inemesitaffia]

That's not how this works.

Under this program there's no option of another org replacing a denied org. Who's stepping up for LTD broadband for example?

[pclmulqdq]

There's a fixed pool of money ($16 billion), so everyone who gets some of it does replace a denied org.

[inemesitaffia]

You have no idea how this works. Denied money isn't redistributed.

Where do people get this from?

Maybe there will be a future award. But there's no rollover here.

[pclmulqdq]

Two facts let you conclude this easily:

1. Money is fungible

2. Grant applications are still open

So money not spent on SpaceX can go to a future application.

[inemesitaffia]

In 2026