the MAGA cult is going to redirect taxpayer money away from small local providers and popular community owned broadband networks and funnel it over to Elon musk's congestion plagued, expensive, ozone layer killing satellite service they declare mission accomplished on broadband - ThreadSky

karlbode.com • 5 days ago

the MAGA cult is going to redirect taxpayer money away from small local providers and popular community owned broadband networks and funnel it over to Elon musk's congestion plagued, expensive, ozone layer killing satellite service

they declare mission accomplished on broadband

Reposted from Midnight Platypus

Would likely not have understood, let alone be as pissed off, by the news in this article had @karlbode.com not literally primed me with his coverage over the past few weeks. Been following him since he corrected a glib comment back when we were on the other site.

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

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karlbode.com•5 days ago

they're also going to take aim at transparent improvements we've made in broadband mapping so we can't effectively measure who has access and who doesn't

While simultaneously gutting all broadband consumer protection regulators so you have no recourse for shit service from your local monopoly

karlbode.com•5 days ago

You know, this "populism" we keep hearing so much about

karlbode.com•5 days ago

sterlingwright.bsky.social•5 days ago

Musk doesn’t care. He explicitly said, “Fuck Earth! We can colonize the solar system.”

“Fuck Earth,” he said.

policyg.bsky.social•5 days ago

I knew this was coming since Elon got involve. My naivete was thinking that this was his whole play (plus some fat NASA contracts), not taking over the entire government.

rchris22.bsky.social•5 days ago

There are several US based fiber optic cable manufacturers that have been ramping up with addl manufacturing capabilities for years in anticipation of BEAD. One is in Cruz’s home state, and it’s going to hurt!

vedetta.bsky.social•5 days ago

📌

tpo-asd.bsky.social•5 days ago

📌

catznjam.bsky.social•5 days ago

And Musk junk is just that, junk - Starlink is just a bunch of small satellites, hooked together - there's nothing great about that. Nothing special 🤷🏼‍♀️🙄.

catznjam.bsky.social•5 days ago

There goes nationwide broadband access - unless you're willing to pay whatever they want to charge for it, which will be astronomically expensive..

peggyschaffer.bsky.social•5 days ago

They are all grifters.

el-condor-pasa.bsky.social•5 days ago

Is google fiber screwed here? Even after dancing with WH?

karlbode.com•5 days ago

Google fiber has been a pretty modest player for a while, I'm not sure they were high on the list for much of this federal grant money

I haven't seen them at all active with ARPA funds, and they have less restrictions than these infrastructure bill grants

alwaysthinkhow.bsky.social•5 days ago

Google fiber slowed down expansions years ago. Really a shame to give up a project to support the development of muni ISPs in smaller areas.

karlbode.com•5 days ago

Yeah alphabet executives got scared off. They've had some modest expansions in Utah and Arizona more recently but nothing like what was originally promised

policyg.bsky.social•5 days ago

I do have to admit, I think running wire is a mistake, but if I were in charge I would try to build out a large 5G grid, not satellites.

alwaysthinkhow.bsky.social•5 days ago

5G will always be to slow and congested to compare with a fiber net with wifi headends. And long haul microwave is far superior to any satellite for the long haul trunks.

karlbode.com•5 days ago

You push fiber as far as you can, extend fixed wireless and 5G to most of the holes, then leverage satellite for the rest

satellite shouldn't be seen as anything more than a niche filler option, at least not anytime this decade

alwaysthinkhow.bsky.social•5 days ago

Probably not this decade or any decade since you can't get around its limitations dictated by the rules of psychics.

karlbode.com•5 days ago

Also there's the whole destroying the atmosphere thing

molock1.bsky.social•5 days ago

I have a friend who lives out in rural area and uses Starlink. He is not happy with it. He was hoping for cable.

peggyschaffer.bsky.social•5 days ago

I am hoping for Fiber (it’s an RDOF location.) so far the provider has been absent. Not even silent. Absent (consolidated communications)

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