As part of a campaign to help deliver high-speed Broadband to remote areas in the US, the Federal Communications Commission has awarded SpaceX approximately $886 million.
In step one of the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction, a total of 180 businesses won the part of the $9.2 billion which are up for grabs. The funding would help provide internet speeds of at least 100/20 megabits per second to most rural areas - and over 85% with gigabit speeds.
During the auction, Elon Musk's SpaceX was awarded $885.5 million. More than 640,000 sites across 35 states have been allocated to SpaceX under the said initiative.
The financing will be split into equivalent monthly installments for the next 10 years.
"I'm thrilled with the incredible success of this auction, which brings welcome news to millions of unconnected rural Americans who for too long have been on the wrong side of the digital divide," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. "They now stand to gain access to high-speed, high-quality broadband service."
About Starlink
In a satellite service dubbed Starlink, SpaceX plans to boost internet speeds. It sends into space thousands of tiny satellites that form constellations of flying routers that radiate communication back to Earth.
The participating businesses had to agree to provide broadband at a certain speed and latency at each site to obtain the funding. Providers who gave the highest results were then given the winning bids.
The resulting internet access contracts must also be charged equivalent to what Americans opt for in metropolitan areas, according to FCC rules. In addition, at the end of the third year of the funding period, the winning bidders would start to provide high-speed broadband to 40 percent of the required number of sites.
In SpaceX's case, for $99 a month and an initial fee of $499, the organization has already provided the Starlink program to invited trial customers. Today, the satellite internet network can run at over 100Mbps and beyond, but the main aim is to have internet speeds of 1Gbps.
The Starlink beta is currently only available to users based in the northern US. The firm expects, however to extend the trial to more states early next year. Interested users should go to Starlink.com to sign up for the beta invites issued through the email newsletter.
Starlink And Rural Areas
Since 2015, SpaceX's Starlink satellite development and production service have been headquartered in Redmond. The Redmond factory turns out about 120 satellites each month, which are normally launched by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets in batches of 60.
There are currently up to 900 Starlink satellites in service. Via a pilot test program that is planned to extend early next year, SpaceX has started providing broadband.
Some of the rural areas of Washington State have already gotten a preview. SpaceX made Starlink service open to the Malden fire-ravaged population this summer, to rescue workers battling wildfires near Bonney Lake, and to the Olympic Peninsula Hoh Tribe.
Melvinjohn Ashue, the tribe's vice chair, said in a video produced by the Washington State Department of Commerce that children are eager to do online schooling and participate in videos. He added that telehealth would no longer be a concern for them.
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