Elon Musk's SpaceX is beefing with Virginia
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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at the White House in April. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Elon Musk's SpaceX is slamming Virginia's final plan for expanding broadband access, which gives the company a small fraction of the millions of dollars it sought to deliver high-speed internet.
Why it matters: Virginia is set to receive more than $600 million in federal funding to connect the remaining 133,000 homes and businesses statewide without reliable internet.
The big picture: How that money is spent will determine whether those homes and businesses get connected by fiber, satellite or other technologies.
- And SpaceX, which operates Starlink's satellite service, accused Virginia of unfairly favoring fiber providers over satellite ones, blaming "biased" studies, in a public letter this month.
By the numbers: Two of the largest pending awards in Virginia's proposal are to fiber providers like All Points Broadband and Comcast, for a total of nearly $318 million — more than half of the $613 million the state has to dole out.
- SpaceX had asked Virginia for $60 million to "immediately" set up every eligible household with high-speed internet.
- Virginia's plan gives it nearly $3.3 million to serve almost 5,600 locations.
What they're saying: SpaceX wants federal officials to reject Virginia's proposal, calling it a "massive waste of federal taxpayer money."
- The company made similar statements this week to officials in Louisiana — which also has a Republican governor.
Virginia's Department of Housing and Community Development, which oversees the broadband access program, pushed back on claims of partiality, telling Axios that grants were awarded to certain satellite providers "wherever tree canopy and building density were low enough to ensure efficacy and performance."
- The agency said those decisions were made with federal oversight.
What's next: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration will review SpaceX's comments and make an ultimate decision on the state's proposal.
Editor's note: This story was updated to add comment from the state.