SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Friday recommended Starlink for lower-cost internet connectivity in North Carolina after President Joe Biden announced investments of $82 million to connect 16,000 households in the region to the internet.
What Happened: “Just get Starlink,” Musk wrote in a post on X. He was responding to the Biden administration’s recent $82 million investment to bring high-speed internet to 16,000 homes across North Carolina. This would bring the cost of connecting one home to the internet to over $5000.
In contrast, connecting a home with Starlink will cost only a total of $719- $120 a month and a hardware cost of $599.
While Musk’s Starlink relies on a network of satellites in lower Earth orbit to provide internet, Biden’s investment was aimed at providing connectivity through fiber-optic cable.
“I announced we’re investing another $82M to connect 16,000 additional homes and businesses to high-speed internet across North Carolina. This is just one piece of a much bigger story. Under my leadership, over 40,000 infrastructure projects have been announced across our nation,” Biden said in a post on X.
Why It Matters: Last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reiterated its decision to deny Starlink $885.5 million in rural broadband subsidies, a move criticized by Musk as ‘extremely unethical and politically partisan.' Musk opined that Starlink is the sole company that can solve rural broadband at scale and that the subsidy must be dissolved and returned to taxpayers instead of being given to other players who cannot solve rural connectivity issues.
Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr also dissented against the decision alleging that the FCC has added itself to the growing list of administrative agencies taking action against Musk's businesses following the billionaire's acquisition of Twitter on the instruction of President Biden. Carr termed the decision ‘regulatory harassment’ and claimed that the decision was based on previously non-existent standards.
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