Broadband Boondoggle: Ajit Pai's $886M Gift to Elon Musk

To connect those most in need most often means connecting people to networks that already exist. That’s why it’s important to expose how the Federal Communications Commission’s rush to build new broadband networks has resulted in wasteful spending. Though I believe solving the rural-deployment problem is important, the roots of that problem are different from the root causes of the digital divide that plagues urban areas. We should be spending more time and, yes, money to address those issues of choice, affordability and high prices that keep tens of millions of people disconnected even when they already have an adequate broadband option in their neighborhoods.

• Feature or bug? The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund’s massive waste is a result of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s design. Based on our initial estimates, more than $700 million of the $9.2 billion in subsidies were awarded to broadband providers for deployment in non-rural areas. 
• While the FCC continues to ignore the plight of the urban poor, it’s giving Elon Musk nearly a billion in subsidies, a significant portion of it to serve urban airports (apparently, we have a massive airport digital divide), parking lots and dog parks