Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick touts Elon Musk’s Starlink for US broadband scheme

Donald Trump’s commerce secretary touted Elon Musk’s Starlink to federal officials in charge of a $42 billion rural broadband programme, raising new questions about the billionaire White House adviser’s conflicts of interest. In a private meeting in the Herbert Hoover building near the White House, Secretary Howard Lutnick told civil servants at the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) programme to increase the project’s use of satellite connectivity — over fibre-optic cable — and singled out Musk’s provider, Starlink. “He mentioned Musk by name, he asked if we had been talking with Elon,” said Evan Feinman. “The clear thrust of his directive was to increase the amount of satellite being used regardless of any other considerations.” A Trump administration official pushed back on any “implicit notion” that Sec Lutnick changed the programme to favour Starlink or any other company. “BEAD . . . didn’t make a dent in expanding rural broadband,” said the official. “This administration — which was elected with resounding support from rural Americans — is committed to actually delivering on this initiative that the Biden administration totally dropped the ball on.” For all but the most remote communities, satellite connectivity was neither cost-effective nor durable, Feinman said. “Fibre-optic cable remains operable for decades and decades at extraordinarily low maintenance and operation costs, and offers speeds today that can meet all current needs and likely those of the future,” Feinman said. “Starlink simply can’t.”