What Did 'Broadband Czar' Harris Do With the $40 Billion Appropriated for Internet?

[The_Waco_Kid]

not a fucking thing. what a surprise!


What Did 'Broadband Czar' Harris Do With the $40 Billion Appropriated for Internet?

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraha...tives-n2644993


Vice President Kamala Harris is under fire for reportedly mismanaging a $42 billion program to expand the Internet.


In a letter, Republican senators accuse “Broadband Czar” Harris of mirroring her performance as “Border Czar” and failing to deliver promises on delivering broadband to rural areas. Ranking member of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has accused Harris of prioritizing the Biden Administration’s woke agenda to impose its climate change mandates on infrastructure projects, government-owned networks over private investment, mandating the use of unionized labor in states and sought to regulate broadband rates.


The letter further alleges Harris of misusing limited taxpayer dollars despite vowing that the administration’s $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program would deliver broadband services to unserved areas.

In 2021, you were specifically tasked by President Biden to lead the administration’s efforts to expand broadband services to unserved Americans. And at the time, you stated, “We can bring broadband to rural America today.” Despite your assurances over three years ago, rural and unserved communities continue to wait for the connectivity they were promised. Under your leadership, not a single person has been connected to the internet using the $42.45 billion allocated for the BEAD program. Indeed, Politico recently reported on “the messy, delayed rollout of” this program.


Instead of focusing on delivering broadband services to unserved areas, your administration has used the BEAD program to add partisan, extralegal requirements that were never envisioned by Congress and have obstructed broadband deployment. By imposing burdensome climate change mandates on infrastructure projects, prioritizing government-owned networks over private investment, mandating the use of unionized labor in states, and seeking to regulate broadband rates, your administration has caused unnecessary delays leaving millions of Americans unconnected.

Brendan Carr, Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, pointed out that after 1,038 days of the Biden-Harris Administration being in office, “Not a single person has been connected to the internet using the $42.45 billion.”


In addition, the Biden-Harris Administration has provided no information on how the $42 billion was spent. This has been the largest single investment in U.S. history for the Internet, and zero people, homes, and businesses have been connected.


The letter was also signed by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).

[royamcr]

Awe someone reading "TOWNHALL" a right wing fuck nut site.

Nowhere does it mention that this has until 2030 to happen. Funding has been allocated to states by need. This is on the states to roll out as needed.

[The_Waco_Kid]

Originally Posted by royamcr

Awe someone reading "TOWNHALL" a right wing fuck nut site.

Nowhere does it mention that this has until 2030 to happen. Funding has been allocated to states by need. This is on the states to roll out as needed.

the point is it hasn't even started at all.


what are they waiting for? Christmas 2031?

[adav8s28]

Originally Posted by The_Waco_Kid

the point is it hasn't even started at all.

There is still 5 years and 3 months for the states that need internet service to do the rollout.

[royamcr]

Originally Posted by The_Waco_Kid

the point is it hasn't even started at all.


what are they waiting for? Christmas 2031?

How do you know? Cables don't route themselves. Suppliers and contractors have to be selected. Planning has to be done. Materials and networking equipment has to be purchased and delivered. This isn't home router stuff, it is robust commercial equipment. Central hubs have to be built to house all the equipment.

Implementing all this is much harder in rural areas due to distances between routers and households. They also have to assess if households already have some sort of internet access. Maybe they use Cell service or satellite already, no need to waste time/money/materials to hard wire these places. Or maybe they are making offers for cheaper internet to those using much more expensive access.

[Yssup Rider]

Another swing and miss TWK.

For all the reasons stated above.

[The_Waco_Kid]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

Another swing and miss by the Biden admin

For all the reasons stated above.

ftfy


some light reading for you fellas


https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...-ignites-deba/


Biden’s stalled rural internet program ignites debate about exclusion of Musk’s Starlink

President Biden’s slow rollout of a $42.5 billion rural internet program has increased criticism of the administration’s decision to yank federal funding from Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband service, which proponents say could provide faster, cheaper internet access to areas with little or no connectivity.


Mr. Musk criticized the federal program in response to a Washington Times report detailing the yearslong process of administering the massive tranche of funds and connecting homes to the internet.



“Your tax dollars for nothing,” Mr. Musk posted on his social media site, X.


The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, or BEAD, has not connected a single rural home to high-speed internet service since Mr. Biden signed the funding into law in November 2021.


At the current pace of distributing the funds, high-speed internet connections to most of the rural areas intended to benefit from BEAD won’t be completed until 2030. The Commerce Department, which is in charge of the program, said none of the projects will begin until 2025 or 2026.



Mr. Musk’s SpaceX is excluded from the BEAD federal subsidies because the money is reserved for companies deploying fiber-optic cable, which the government views as a more proven technology than satellite connections.


During the Trump administration, SpaceX was on track to receive $885.5 million from a different federal program to provide internet to rural locations. The Democratic-led Federal Communications Commission canceled the SpaceX award in August 2022.


The money, administered under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, would have helped SpaceX use Starlink, a constellation of small satellites in low Earth orbit, to provide high-speed internet service to 640,000 rural locations in 35 states.


When it rescinded the funds, the FCC cited questions about Starlink’s internet speed and “the uncertain nature” of SpaceX’s Starship launches.


Some have blamed the cancellation on the Biden administration’s apparent disdain for Mr. Musk, who has been critical of the president using his perch on X, formerly Twitter.


The Biden administration has launched investigations into Mr. Musk and his business. In November 2022, Mr. Biden said Mr. Musk’s “technical relationships” with other countries are “worthy of being looked at.” When asked for details, the president told reporters, “There are a lot of ways” to investigate Mr. Musk.


FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, a Republican appointee, said the commission’s revocation of the Starlink subsidies “certainly fits the Biden administration’s pattern of regulatory harassment” of Mr. Musk.


SpaceX, meanwhile, has been successfully deploying low-orbit satellites that the company said will continue to broaden the availability and increase the speed of Starlink internet.


SpaceX launched 20 Starlink satellites from California on June 18. The company said more than 6,000 satellites are now operational in the Starlink “megaconstellation.”


Homes can be hooked up quickly with a receiver that provides internet with download speeds of 25 to 220 Mbps, or megabits per second, the company said.


BEAD limits federal subsidies to companies that will install high-speed internet with fiber-optic cable, which provides consistently faster speeds, up to 1,000 Mbps, and is considered more reliable.


Installing fiber-optic cable is far more costly, however, and takes much longer to deploy, particularly in rural areas without internet service. Cost estimates for laying fiber-optic cable range from more than $12 per foot in rural areas with soft ground to $20 per foot — which is $105,600 per mile — in rocky terrain.


Mr. Carr said Starlink was on track to install the infrastructure for high-speed internet much faster and at a lower cost by using government subsidies.


Mr. Carr said SpaceX could connect rural areas at a cost of $1,377 per location. The federal subsidies would have added ground stations and reserved the satellite capacity needed to provide service to the targeted rural areas.


BEAD awarded $82 million in January to North Carolina to connect 16,000 rural homes to the internet via fiber-optic cable, which amounts to more than $5,000 per home.


“For $42 billion they could have bought Starlink dishes for 140 million people,” influential technology blogger Scott Woods posted on X.


None of the federal funding is intended to pay for monthly service or home equipment, although Commerce Department officials are demanding that BEAD funding recipients provide low-cost options for consumers.


Starlink for homes requires the purchase of a satellite dish and Wi-Fi router kit, which costs $299 to $599, depending on location. The lowest-cost plan is $120 per month for download speeds of 20 to 100 Mbps and unlimited data. Fiber internet costs about $50 per month, with higher costs for unlimited data.


The biggest difference may be the wait. Many rural areas won’t connect to high-speed internet for years under Mr. Biden’s BEAD program, but Starlink offers same-day delivery of its installation equipment, which can be set up in a couple of hours.


Mr. Musk appealed the decision to revoke Starlink’s federal subsidies, but the FCC said the company did not prove it could provide internet speeds of at least 100 Mbps.


In a letter this year to House lawmakers who questioned the withdrawal of the funding, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel cited multiple reasons, including Starlink’s high startup and monthly costs for rural consumers.


Ms. Rosenworcel said Starlink also refused to remove urban areas, including Newark International Airport and the Chicago Loop, from its funding bid.


“Starlink continues to make its service available to consumers, and nothing in the Commission’s decision on Starlink’s application prevents consumers from choosing Starlink if it meets their needs,” Ms. Rosenworcel wrote.


SpaceX, which reports more than 1.3 million Starlink subscribers in the U.S., did not respond to a media inquiry.

[royamcr]

Starlink is expensive and relatively slow and signal loss during heavy storms is possible. The service doesn't conform to the low monthly cost and permanent high speed goals of the program. While it might be true that 140 million could be on the service in short time, by today's standards it isn't considered high speed internet and certainly not affordable for many. Upload speeds are around 1/10th of the download speed at 5 to 20mbps

[DEAR_JOHN]

Originally Posted by The_Waco_Kid

ftfy


some light reading for you fellas


https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...-ignites-deba/


Biden’s stalled rural internet program ignites debate about exclusion of Musk’s Starlink

President Biden’s slow rollout of a $42.5 billion rural internet program has increased criticism of the administration’s decision to yank federal funding from Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband service, which proponents say could provide faster, cheaper internet access to areas with little or no connectivity.


Mr. Musk criticized the federal program in response to a Washington Times report detailing the yearslong process of administering the massive tranche of funds and connecting homes to the internet.



“Your tax dollars for nothing,” Mr. Musk posted on his social media site, X.


The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, or BEAD, has not connected a single rural home to high-speed internet service since Mr. Biden signed the funding into law in November 2021.


At the current pace of distributing the funds, high-speed internet connections to most of the rural areas intended to benefit from BEAD won’t be completed until 2030. The Commerce Department, which is in charge of the program, said none of the projects will begin until 2025 or 2026.



Mr. Musk’s SpaceX is excluded from the BEAD federal subsidies because the money is reserved for companies deploying fiber-optic cable, which the government views as a more proven technology than satellite connections.


During the Trump administration, SpaceX was on track to receive $885.5 million from a different federal program to provide internet to rural locations. The Democratic-led Federal Communications Commission canceled the SpaceX award in August 2022.


The money, administered under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, would have helped SpaceX use Starlink, a constellation of small satellites in low Earth orbit, to provide high-speed internet service to 640,000 rural locations in 35 states.


When it rescinded the funds, the FCC cited questions about Starlink’s internet speed and “the uncertain nature” of SpaceX’s Starship launches.


Some have blamed the cancellation on the Biden administration’s apparent disdain for Mr. Musk, who has been critical of the president using his perch on X, formerly Twitter.


The Biden administration has launched investigations into Mr. Musk and his business. In November 2022, Mr. Biden said Mr. Musk’s “technical relationships” with other countries are “worthy of being looked at.” When asked for details, the president told reporters, “There are a lot of ways” to investigate Mr. Musk.


FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, a Republican appointee, said the commission’s revocation of the Starlink subsidies “certainly fits the Biden administration’s pattern of regulatory harassment” of Mr. Musk.


SpaceX, meanwhile, has been successfully deploying low-orbit satellites that the company said will continue to broaden the availability and increase the speed of Starlink internet.


SpaceX launched 20 Starlink satellites from California on June 18. The company said more than 6,000 satellites are now operational in the Starlink “megaconstellation.”


Homes can be hooked up quickly with a receiver that provides internet with download speeds of 25 to 220 Mbps, or megabits per second, the company said.


BEAD limits federal subsidies to companies that will install high-speed internet with fiber-optic cable, which provides consistently faster speeds, up to 1,000 Mbps, and is considered more reliable.


Installing fiber-optic cable is far more costly, however, and takes much longer to deploy, particularly in rural areas without internet service. Cost estimates for laying fiber-optic cable range from more than $12 per foot in rural areas with soft ground to $20 per foot — which is $105,600 per mile — in rocky terrain.


Mr. Carr said Starlink was on track to install the infrastructure for high-speed internet much faster and at a lower cost by using government subsidies.


Mr. Carr said SpaceX could connect rural areas at a cost of $1,377 per location. The federal subsidies would have added ground stations and reserved the satellite capacity needed to provide service to the targeted rural areas.


BEAD awarded $82 million in January to North Carolina to connect 16,000 rural homes to the internet via fiber-optic cable, which amounts to more than $5,000 per home.


“For $42 billion they could have bought Starlink dishes for 140 million people,” influential technology blogger Scott Woods posted on X.


None of the federal funding is intended to pay for monthly service or home equipment, although Commerce Department officials are demanding that BEAD funding recipients provide low-cost options for consumers.


Starlink for homes requires the purchase of a satellite dish and Wi-Fi router kit, which costs $299 to $599, depending on location. The lowest-cost plan is $120 per month for download speeds of 20 to 100 Mbps and unlimited data. Fiber internet costs about $50 per month, with higher costs for unlimited data.


The biggest difference may be the wait. Many rural areas won’t connect to high-speed internet for years under Mr. Biden’s BEAD program, but Starlink offers same-day delivery of its installation equipment, which can be set up in a couple of hours.


Mr. Musk appealed the decision to revoke Starlink’s federal subsidies, but the FCC said the company did not prove it could provide internet speeds of at least 100 Mbps.


In a letter this year to House lawmakers who questioned the withdrawal of the funding, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel cited multiple reasons, including Starlink’s high startup and monthly costs for rural consumers.


Ms. Rosenworcel said Starlink also refused to remove urban areas, including Newark International Airport and the Chicago Loop, from its funding bid.


“Starlink continues to make its service available to consumers, and nothing in the Commission’s decision on Starlink’s application prevents consumers from choosing Starlink if it meets their needs,” Ms. Rosenworcel wrote.


SpaceX, which reports more than 1.3 million Starlink subscribers in the U.S., did not respond to a media inquiry.

democrats just print out trillions of dollars for their terrorist and illegal alien friends, with nothing of substance to back up all the printing of the money. bidennomics at it's finest.

[Yssup Rider]

Not true. For a change.

[royamcr]

Originally Posted by DEAR_JOHN

democrats just print out trillions of dollars for their terrorist and illegal alien friends, with nothing of substance to back up all the printing of the money. bidennomics at it's finest.

Trump added 2x more to the debt than Biden did in 4 years.

[txdot-guy]

I don’t understand the point of this thread. As far as I can determine the program is on track and on time. Isn’t this just another attempt to smear the Vice President? Isn’t this just the standard republican tactic?

[royamcr]

Originally Posted by txdot-guy

I don’t understand the point of this thread. As far as I can determine the program is on track and on time. Isn’t this just another attempt to smear the Vice President? Isn’t this just the standard republican tactic?

Ya that is all it is. Republicans running scared.

[The_Waco_Kid]

Originally Posted by royamcr

Starlink is expensive and relatively slow and signal loss during heavy storms is possible. The service doesn't conform to the low monthly cost and permanent high speed goals of the program. While it might be true that 140 million could be on the service in short time, by today's standards it isn't considered high speed internet and certainly not affordable for many. Upload speeds are around 1/10th of the download speed at 5 to 20mbps

any satellite based service is susceptible to weather. including DirectTV and others. comparing satellite service speeds to fiber optic is useless .. no satellite service can come near to 1 gig speed.


how expensive is Starlink? for residential it's 120 a month. no sat based service is going to be cheap compared to cable/fiber. Verizon for example has 1GIG fiber at 65 a month. all satellite based service is more expensive due to the costs of launching the satellites


https://www.starlink.com/service-plans/personal


https://www.verizon.com/home/interne...test-internet/


while it's not internet .. DirecTV satellite is quite expensive .. 150 a month for about 350 channels. compare that to any land based connection and it's half that.


comparing internet apples to oranges isn't gonna buy much to prove a point.


and btw i had Satellite service for 7 years in a rural area in Temple and i recall losing my connection about 4 times in a really heavy rainstorm. how many times did it rain buckets in 7 years? sat service isn't as unreliable in bad weather as you claim.

Originally Posted by txdot-guy

I don’t understand the point of this thread. As far as I can determine the program is on track and on time. Isn’t this just another attempt to smear the Vice President? Isn’t this just the standard republican tactic?

of course it's a smear, it's called politics. like calling a presidential candidate "racist"

in typical Government fashion they plod along with endless bullshit regulatory meetings and any number of committees.


the fact that it took nearly 4 years of this nonsense to even start laying one foot of fiber (not till 2025!!) is the point and Biden yet again slapped a do-nothing job on Harris and gave her a meaningless title to do nothing about a solution.

Harris got the "title" now she takes the heat for it.



that's the point of the thread.

[txdot-guy]

Originally Posted by The_Waco_Kid

in typical Government fashion they plod along with endless bullshit regulatory meetings and any number of committees.


The fact that it took nearly 4 years of this nonsense to even start laying one foot of fiber (not till 2025!!) is the point and Biden yet again slapped a do-nothing job on Harris and gave her a meaningless title to do nothing about a solution.

Harris got the "title" now she takes the heat for it.

that's the point of the thread.

So what you are saying is that a program to build fiber out to rural communities that's on track and on time and will last for decades to come and owned by the government is bad because it's not being built as fast as they would like. I don't see any heat here just manufactured blame.