The Trump administration mentioned on Wednesday that it could overhaul a $42 billion federal grant program geared toward increasing high-speed web to the nation, together with easing some guidelines that would profit Elon Musk’s satellite tv for pc web service, Starlink.
This system might be revamped to “take a tech-neutral strategy” in its distribution of funds to states, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick mentioned in a press release. This system’s guidelines, which have been created throughout the Biden administration, beforehand favored broadband traces made from fiber-optic cables connected to houses.
“The division is ripping out the Biden administration’s pointless necessities,” Mr. Lutnick mentioned. The Commerce Division may also take away regulatory and different obstacles that decelerate development and connection to households, he added.
Congress created the Broadband Fairness, Entry and Deployment Program in 2021 to increase broadband to essentially the most distant areas of the nation. The Commerce Division got here up with requirements and guidelines for states and territories making use of for the funds — together with the choice for fiber-optic broadband, which gives the quickest web service speeds.
Mr. Musk, who’s an in depth adviser to President Trump and serving to to steer a authorities effectivity initiative, is chief government of SpaceX, the rocket firm that makes Starlink. Starlink makes use of low-altitude satellites to beam web service to dishes wherever on the planet after which to units. It serves almost 5 million subscribers worldwide and was utilized by emergency responders late final yr in North Carolina when communications networks shut down after a hurricane.
The Commerce Division’s web program has not but disbursed any funds, and Republicans have used it for instance of a program that was slowed down by pink tape.
Some have accused the Biden administration of unfairly blocking Starlink from the grants and say the satellite tv for pc service can instantly serve a number of the most distant areas of the nation.
In 2023, the Federal Communications Fee rejected Starlink’s software for nearly $900 million in subsidies in a separate rural broadband program, saying the corporate failed to indicate it may meet service necessities for the funding.
Brendan Carr, then a Republican F.C.C. commissioner and now chairman of the company, opposed that call and mentioned the motion had put the F.C.C. on a “rising listing of administrative businesses which might be taking motion in opposition to Elon Musk’s companies.”
Mr. Musk’s enterprise pursuits — which additionally embrace the electric-car maker Tesla and the social media firm X — have prompted considerations about potential conflicts of curiosity as he makes vital selections in Washington.
On Wednesday, some public curiosity teams expressed concern that Mr. Lutnick’s plans to alter the broadband program may immediately profit Mr. Musk.
“Fiber broadband is extensively understood to be higher than different web choices — like Starlink’s satellites —- as a result of it delivers considerably quicker speeds,” mentioned Drew Garner, a director of coverage engagement for the nonprofit Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.
The Commerce Division didn’t instantly reply to requests for particulars on the plan. Mr. Musk didn’t reply to a request for remark.