Category Archives: Satellite

Ookla ranks MN’s access to fixed broadband (100/20) at 31

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Ookla reports…

Ookla Speedtest Intelligence® data found that the number of states that are able to deliver fixed broadband services (fiber, cable and DSL) to the minimum standard of broadband speeds (100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload) to 60% or more of Speedtest users in their state increased from 38 states and the District of Columbia in the first half of 2025 to 45 states and the District of Columbia in the second half of 2025. Plus, 13 states are now delivering the minimum  of 100/20 Mbps fixed broadband speeds to 70% or more of Speedtest users.

Speedtest data also indicates that satellite broadband speeds improved during the second half of the year, as well. In the second half of 2025, Starlink’s ability to deliver the FCC’s minimum standard for broadband speeds of 100/20 Mbps across the U.S. improved dramatically with 50% or more of Speedtest users in five states—Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nevada—experiencing speeds of 100/20 Mbps while using Starlink’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite service. This was an increase from 1H 2025 when South Dakota with 37.13% was the state with the highest percentage of Starlink users that could get LEO broadband speeds of 100/20 Mbps.

Here’s what they found for Minnesota:

  • Percentage of urban and rural user with access to fixed broadband at 100 Mbps down and 20 up (100/20)
  • Urban: 74.3 percent
  • Rural: 56.4 percent
  • Ranking for overall access: 31
  • Ranking for Starlink users who can access 100/20: 13 at 45.97 percent

Some Legislators looking again at SpaceX’s participation in BEAD funding

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Broadband Breakfast reports on more potential uncertainty for State Broadband leaders dealing to BEAD…

Nearly 20 House Democrats say they have “deep concern” about satellite ISP SpaceX’s participation in a $42.45 billion broadband grant program after the company asked state broadband offices to relax some of the program’s rules.

“Other providers that participated in BEAD presumably did so in good faith, with a clear understanding of the rules. Starlink’s proposed rider suggests that it did not,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter last week to Arielle Roth, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. “If Starlink cannot comply with the standards that other BEAD providers have accepted, NTIA and state broadband offices must reconsider these awards.”

In January, SpaceX asked states to modify rules around performance testing and other provisions of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program before signing contracts with the company. NTIA, which is managing the program at the federal level, then released an updated FAQ document telling states that they couldn’t negotiate deals with grant winners that conflicted with BEAD rules.

FCC approves Amazon Leo launch of 4500 more satellites

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Fierce Network reports…

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday granted Amazon Leo the authority to launch 4,500 more satellites.

Recently, Amazon Leo asked the FCC for permission to extend its deadline to launch 3,232 satellites until July 30, 2028. The FCC hasn’t ruled on that request, yet, but it’s generally expected to approve it.

Now, with the FCC’s permission to launch 4,500 more satellites, Amazon Leo will potentially have a low-Earth-orbit (LEO) constellation of more than 7,700 satellites.

As for the 4,500 additional satellites, Amazon Leo must launch 50% of those by February 10, 2032, and the remaining half by February 10, 2035.

SpaceX asks FCC to approve one million satellites in space

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Broadband Breakfast reports…

SpaceX, submitted an authorization request to the FCC to operate their orbital data center system on Friday, kicking off the race to bring data centers to support AI in space.

The request asks for approval to launch and operate up to a one million satellite constellation that will utilize a sun-synchronous orbit to obtain near constant solar power.

That’s a lot more than they currently manage…

SpaceX currently operates around 9,400 functioning satellites through its starlink broadband system, making this request a more than 100-fold increase in operational scale. The application letter  doesn’t provide specific details on the satellites themselves, but does say it hopes to operate between 500 kilometers (km) and 2000 km above earth’s surface with orbital shells of 50 km suggesting there would be “sufficient room to deconflict against other systems with comparable ambitions”

SpaceX is looking for exemption from certain BEAD requirements

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The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society reports…

In a letter to state broadband offices, Elon Musk’s SpaceX suggested that it may be “untenable” for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet providers, such as Starlink, to participate in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program unless they receive exemptions from certain contract requirements. Those exemptions, which are specified in a “contract rider” attached to the letter, would limit Starlink’s performance obligations, payment schedules, non-compliance penalties, reporting expectations, and labor and insurance standards.

SpaceX’s request highlights issues with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) reliance on LEO providers. BEAD was designed primarily to deploy terrestrial networks, which are physically located in communities, built with traditional construction methods, and are relatively easy to monitor and inspect. But, on June 6, 2025, NTIA restructured BEAD in ways that greatly increased participation by LEO providers, exacerbating the challenge of applying BEAD’s terrestrial-focused rules to LEO’s extraterrestrial networks.

SpaceX’s solution appears to be to simply exempt LEO providers from many of BEAD’s requirements. Specifically, SpaceX proposes that:

  1. LEO providers should be evaluated exclusively by network performance. However, performance tests can only be considered if the LEO provider determines that the subscriber’s equipment is properly installed, and, notably, the LEO provider is not obligated to ensure proper installation. LEO providers should not be required to document that their network has “reserved capacity” exclusively for BEAD users.
  2. LEO providers should not be reimbursed based on subscriber acquisition but rather should receive 50 percent payment upon certification of service availability and the remaining 50 percent quarterly over 10 years.
  3. In the event of default or non-compliance, LEO providers should only be subject to the clawback of grant funds and debarment, nothing more.
  4. LEO providers should not be required to provide financial reporting or documentation of grant expenses.
  5. LEO providers should not be subject to BEAD’s labor or insurance requirements.
  6. Starlink’s Low-Cost Service Option will cost $80 or less and be available to Lifeline-eligible households.

Starlink plans to lower satellite orbit to enhance safety in 2026

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KFGO reports…

Starlink will begin a reconfiguration of its satellite constellation by lowering all of its satellites orbiting at around 550 km (342 ‍miles) to 480 km over the course of 2026, Michael Nicolls, SpaceX’s vice president of Starlink engineering, said on Thursday.

The company is looking to increase space safety by lowering the satellites’ orbit.

This comes after Starlink said in December ‌that one of its satellites experienced ‌an anomaly in space, creating a “small” amount of debris and cutting off communications with the spacecraft at 418 km in altitude, a rare kinetic accident in orbit for the satellite ​internet giant.

The company had said the satellite, one of nearly 10,000 in space for its broadband internet ‍network, quickly fell four kilometers ​in altitude, suggesting some kind of ​explosion occurred on board.

“Lowering the satellites results in condensing Starlink ‍orbits, and will increase space safety in several ways,” Nicolls said in a post on social media platform X, adding “the number of debris objects and planned satellite constellations is significantly lower below 500 km, ‍reducing the aggregate likelihood of collision.”

Are existing satellite power rules outdated? Experts discuss at recent conference

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Fierce Network reports from the New America LEO Satellite Policy Symposium…

Power limits – not just lack of spectrum – are a key bottleneck for low earth orbit (LEO) satellite deployment, panelists argued at a New America policy event.

As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considers how to update its satellite spectrum sharing rules, it’s also thinking about revamping its Equivalent Power Flux Density (EPFD) limits so that LEO providers can boost their satellite power levels – and in turn up their capacity.

Joe Kane, director of broadband and spectrum policy at ITIF, said revising the existing rules makes sense because they “don’t really envision a world in which we have [thousands of schedules] in multiple different constellations going around the earth all the time.”

The FCC’s EPFD limits are based on standards established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in the 1990s. The idea was to prevent interference between geostationary (GEO) and non-geostationary satellites.

More than 20 percent of BEAD locations will go to satellite and 67 percent will go to fiber

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Fierce Network reports…

After all the hand-wringing about the revisions to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program under the Trump administration, it looks like about 67.1% of eligible locations will get fiber, while 20.5% will receive low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite connections. The remaining locations will receive fixed wireless access (10%) and coaxial cable (2.4%).

These figures come from the Connected Nation website, which is tracking all the BEAD proposals. Currently, it has data for 51 final proposals out of 56, and its data shows the allocations of 3.36 million locations out of a presumed 4.2 million.

The information comes from the Connected Nation interactive BEAD tracker, which I wrote about earlier this month. Looks like the national information has been updated since I last looked.

Doug Dawson points out three flaws of BEAD

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Doug Dawson knows broadband policy and technology from the ground up. He has written about three main flaws in BEAD funding…

BEAD Satellite Awards. I start with the premise that rural communities are not going to be happy when somebody officially tells them that the federal government is giving money to Starlink or Kuiper to solve their rural broadband gap. It’s likely that NTIA and the FCC will declare that satellite is good broadband so that they can declare that the rural broadband gap has been solved.

There are also natural limitations on the capabilities of satellite broadband. It can be difficult to deliver a satellite signal through heavy tree canopy.  …

Defaults. There will continue to be defaults for existing broadband grant programs. This year saw significant RDOF defaults from Charter and CenturyLink. There will be defaults on networks funded by ARPA grants, where funding ends at the end of 2026.

I expect BEAD defaults. …

Crappy Mapping. The biggest group of locations missed by BEAD will be due to poor FCC maps. The BEAD map challenge was a total joke. It was fairly easy for ISPs to get BEAD-eligible locations removed from the map, including many that should have stayed on. The map challenge made it practically impossible to add locations to the BEAD map where the FCC maps were in error. There are two major flaws in the FCC maps that will surface as people complain about still not having adequate broadband.

How are BEAD changes impacting the fiber versus satellite breakdown in Wisconsin?

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Wisconsin’s The Badger Project looks at BEAD funding and the relatively new focus on satellite…

Experts worry that the federal government will force states to use public funds initially earmarked for fiber-optic instead for much slower but cheaper-and-faster-to-install satellite internet provided by companies like SpaceX’s Starlink and Jeff Bezos’ Project Kuiper.

They spoke with Minnesota-based Christopher Mitchell…

The bill intended for most of the funding to go towards locally-owned fiber-optic networks, Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative, a Minnesota-based think tank supporting communities’ telecommunications efforts, said in an email to The Badger Project.

“There was an expectation that only the very remote, intolerably high-cost locations would be left with satellite access,” he continued.

While fiber-optic delivers superfast and virtually uninterrupted internet access, there’s a significant, one-time cost of time and money to bury the cables in the ground, especially in rural areas with few homes. For-profit companies have often refused to make that investment without public funding, because the return is poor in sparsely populated areas.

On the other hand, satellite internet has lower setup costs in both time and money, as only a dish needs to be installed at each home or business. But as technology advances and consumers keep requiring faster internet, the speeds provided by satellite are much slower in general than fiber. Despite improvements, Starlink, the industry leader, does not regularly reach the federal definition of broadband speeds, according to an analysis by Ookla, an organization that provides measurements of telecommunications. Internet delivered via fiber-optic cables can already obliterate that minimum speed.

Starlink also says its internet service can be affected by severe weather. And questions remain if satellite internet companies can deliver on the scale needed across the country.

Recent changes in BEAD requirements has meant more satellite (in the applications) in Wisconsin…

Wisconsin’s original proposal for homes without high-speed internet access had 93% fiber-optic deployment. The revised plan submitted has 73% fiber, 13% fixed wireless, often from towers, and 13% satellite.

Amazon: Project Kuiper ready to provide satellite service in six months

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Broadband Breakfast reports on Amazon Kuiper satellite, which has applied for more than $11 million in BEAD funding in Minnesota…

Starlink’s one and only rival said it is ready to begin connecting Internet customers.

Amazon’s Project Kuiper said this week it plans to begin broadband service in six months, even though only a little more than a hundred satellites are currently in orbit.

At the World Space Business Week conference in Paris, Ricky Freeman, president of Amazon Kuiper Government Solutions, said the Amazon-owned company expects to provide service in five countries, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States by the end of the second quarter next year, according to various news outlets.

Satellite is a sticky wicket in state BEAD plans

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Broadband Breakfast reports…

State broadband offices confront mounting uncertainty over whether to accept low-cost satellite internet bids as part of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

Some industry experts, speaking at a Broadband Breakfast Live Online event on Wednesday, warned that SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper cannot deliver the service quality required under the $42.45 billion federal broadband program.

The challenge has shifted dramatically as eligible locations may have dropped as much as 65 percent, from 11.9 million in 2023 to 4.2 million today, according to a study by the New York Law School. That has transformed BEAD’s program from being one of funding shortages to a potential too much money. Randy Leuning, founder of BroadbandToolkit.com, said: “Three years ago, we approached this as there’s not going to be enough money, and now we’re approaching [it] like there’s too much money, and so how do we adapt?”

In Minnesota, Amazon Kuiper has applied for $11,083,293.95 in funding and is offering $3,552,614.48 in match to serve 18295 Locations. And just yesterday, satellite service came up in OBD BEAD Final Proposal meeting in Hutchinson MN.

Do satellite providers get more time to meet BEAD speed requirements than other broadband providers?

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In the Office of Broadband Development Office Hour this morning, someone asked how many years low-Earth orbit satellite (LEO) had to deliver the speeds required to be eligible for BEAD funding. The answer was that OBD would adhere to NTIA guidance. So an hour later an article on LEO and BEAD in Broadband Breakfast caught my attention because it gave a more specific answer…

As broadband officials dig into the fine print of updated guidance governing a $42.45 billion federal broadband expansion program, many raised concerns Monday about new advantages carved out for low-Earth orbit satellite providers.

One of the clearest examples, they argued, was a provision under revised rules for the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program, that gives satellite providers up to 10 years to meet performance benchmarks — more than double the four years allowed for fiber and other technologies to comply. The rules, released by the Commerce Department earlier this month, purport to be “tech neutral,” but critics continue to find biases within them.

Should the smartphone-broadband bundle should be on every rural operator’s radar?

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CoBank posts an article on “Why the smartphone-broadband bundle should be on every rural operator’s radar.” Here are their key points:

  • Bundles are winning: Customers increasingly prefer bundled smartphone and home broadband services for simplicity and savings – national carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, Comcast, and Charter are capitalizing on this trend and gaining market share.
  • Rural competition is heating up: Massive federal funding, expanded wireless coverage, and improving satellite options (like Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper) are intensifying competition in rural markets.
  • Technology is enabling growth: Advances like the 6GHz band and next-gen FWA systems (e.g., Tarana) are making wireless broadband more viable and scalable – even in hard-to-serve areas.
  • Smaller operators are taking notice: Regional players like WOW!, Midco, and Mediacom, along with NCTC members, are beginning to offer mobile services to compete with bundled offerings.
  • The risk of doing nothing is rising: While offering mobile isn’t easy or cheap, not responding to the bundled threat could mean higher churn, lost customers, and long-term erosion of market share.

Amazon launches its first internet satellites

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KSTP TV 5 reports…

Amazon’s first batch of internet satellites rocketed into orbit Monday, the latest entry in the mega constellation market currently dominated by SpaceX’s thousands of Starlinks.

The United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket carried up 27 of Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites, named after the frigid fringes of our solar system beyond Neptune. Once released in orbit, the satellites will eventually reach an altitude of nearly 400 miles (630 kilometers).

Two test satellites were launched in 2023, also by an Atlas V. Project officials said major upgrades were made to the newest version. The latest satellites also are coated with a mirror film designed to scatter reflected sunlight in an attempt to accommodate astronomers.