A new company will deal with the problem of broadband access to the network: the United States will allocate $ 900 million to it

Services of American providers and telecom companies some of the most expensive in the world, while their quality, in particular throughput, leaves much to be desired.

There are a number of objective reasons for this – for example, outdated standards broadband and statistics, constantly requiring clarification. Both points reduce the predictability of infrastructure development, make it difficult to plan new and upgrade existing communication lines.

Let’s discuss what SpaceX is offering and how the Starlink team got involved in solving the problem.

Internet to the village

Outdated methodology and, as a result, low accuracy of reporting provided by American Internet providers, led to serious problems. how found out private companies, up to forty two million citizens cannot use the services of broadband access to the network. There is simply no such opportunity at their place of residence.

Greatest difficulties arise outside large settlements, where reporting is carried out on census blocks an area of the whole district (up to 2-3 km²). In statistics, they are counted as having high-speed communication lines, even if only one household has a connection for the whole “census block”.

The lack of broadband access to the network has been observed for a long time, as indicated by independent polls – three out of five respondents (58%) confirm that they still have difficulties of this kind. However, the authorities switched from discussion to taking measures to resolve the situation just recently – in the first half of the year.

This summer, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved rules for participation in a large-scale subsidy program totaling $ 16 billion. Hundreds of telecom companies wishing to provide residents of small areas with high-speed lines were able to claim their share of this amount. However, even at the preparatory stage, the representatives of the commission said that satellite Internet communications would most likely not be included in the program.

What’s up with SpaceX

The company was able to challenge the FCC’s approach to exclude it from participating in the subsidy program. IN explanatory note SpaceX representatives stressed that the main thing is the high and stable quality of services, and not the way they are delivered to the consumer. The commission met the company halfway, admitted it to the competition, and as a result, allocated $ 885.5 million.

Another $ 8.3 billion from the first part of the FCC’s total support package was distributed among 180 providers. By the way, some of them expressed doubts about Starlink’s capabilities, citing potential disconnections and difficulties maintaining connectivity if the company cannot deploy enough satellites. As a kind of response, in early November, SpaceX management reported on a successful beta test service.

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It is still difficult to say for which part of the tens of millions of citizens who are faced with a lack of broadband access to the network, Starlink will be able to offer a worthy alternative. A number of skeptics believe that the process of delivering satellite Internet communications to the “American Village” may somewhat slow down the need to purchase and install additional equipment for signal reception and processing. According to CNBC, the cost of the kit could be up to $ 500, and monthly payments will turn out to be $ 99, which is quite fits to the upper bound of the prices for the corresponding services in the United States.

Other doubters point out that the subsidies will not be one-off. Indeed, they will be distributed over several years, subject to the interim requirements of the commission. In terms of the overall cost of the project, this amount will not have a decisive impact. However, the very fact of successful participation in the competition can become a precedent and open access to new support programs for Starlink. Who knows how else the government will decide to support telecom companies in the context of the general transition to telecommuting.

Difficulties remain

The solution to the problem with broadband access is likely to take several years. Even if SpaceX and the Starlink team manage to exit beta in the very near future, it will definitely not work to provide a stable Internet connection for all sparsely populated areas of the country.

The situation is complicated and ban for the construction of broadband networks by local communities. In addition, for fifty million Americans is still relevant vendor lock… Where they live, there is no choice: communication services are provided by only one company, which does not in the best way affect their cost.

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