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Elon Musk Rides to Biden’s Hurricane Rescue
The FCC withdrew a grant for Starlink to cover rural counties, but the satellite service is now saving the day in those counties.
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The WSJ Editorial Board
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Oct. 9, 2024 5:29 pm ET

As Hurricane Milton wreaks destruction through central Florida, the recovery from Hurricane Helene is a long way from over in the rural Southeast. But one good news story is how Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service has rescued cell phone and internet service in rural counties that desperately needed it.

Private groups and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in recent days have deployed more than a thousand Starlink terminals to restore internet service in hard-hit areas of Appalachia. The Federal Communications Commission has also given Starlink the green-light to test a direct-to-cell service to broadcast emergency alerts.

Mr. Musk says Starlink will provide temporary free satellite service in affected areas. He’s doing so even though the FCC last December yanked an $885 million grant for Starlink to furnish high-speed internet to 640,000 rural homes and businesses—including in the very counties where FEMA is now deploying Starlink’s satellites.

As we wrote at the time, the FCC awarded Starlink the grant in 2020 because it can cover remote regions at lower cost than traditional broadband providers. But the FCC’s Democratic majority revoked Starlink’s funding last year, claiming it wasn’t making fast enough progress to connect rural Americans—never mind that other FCC funding recipients weren’t doing any better.

The Biden FCC majority called Starlink unproven and unreliable, though Ukraine’s military and people were relying on its service after Russia destroyed other networks. As GOP commissioner Brendan Carr noted in dissent, the FCC’s decision “cannot be explained by any objective application of law, facts, or policy,” adding that the decision “fits the Biden Administration’s pattern of regulatory harassment” of Mr. Musk’s businesses.

The de-funding by Democrats is now looking even more political. Two weeks ago FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel granted Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen a three-year extension to meet FCC deadlines to build out his fledgling 5G network and avoid stiff penalties for squatting on valuable spectrum. Starlink was well on its way to meeting its commitments to the FCC, but Mr. Ergen wasn’t close to meeting his.

Ah, but Mr. Ergen is a Biden-Harris campaign donor while Mr. Musk is a critic. Note also that Dish lobbied the FCC in 2022 to scrap the Starlink award, saying it “cannot credibly claim that it will be able to fulfill its obligations.” Perhaps Mr. Ergen hopes to win federal funding to cover the rural areas that the FCC had tapped Starlink to connect.

It would be better if the government weren’t subsidizing the expansion of any private broadband networks. But if they’re going to pick winners and losers, the feds should do so based on objective criteria and ensure taxpayer money is spent efficiently.

Instead, the Administration has prioritized $42.5 billion in broadband funding from the infrastructure bill for the most expensive fiber projects while effectively excluding Starlink even though it can connect rural Americans at a fraction of the cost. It’s no small irony that FEMA is deploying Starlink systems in some of the same rural areas that Biden officials earlier wouldn’t let Starlink serve.

Starlink’s FCC award would have covered all or parts of 17 of the 21 North Carolina counties hardest hit by the hurricane. The least President Biden could do is thank Mr. Musk for saving the day.


Link: WSJ