FCC Reaffirms Decision to Reject Starlink Application for Nearly $900 Million in Subsidies

The Federal Communications Commission reaffirmed its Wireline Bureau’s prior decision to reject the long-form application of Starlink to receive public support through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program, based on the applicant’s failure to meet the program requirements. Starlink had sought a review of a decision and asked the FCC to find that Starlink is reasonably capable of meeting its performance obligations in its winning bid areas. Starlink argued that (1) the Bureau disregarded FCC policy and the long-form application review process by applying heightened scrutiny to Starlink’s long-form application; (2) the Bureau’s denial of the long-form application was contrary to the evidence, erroneous, and unreasonable; (3) the Bureau ignored the role of RDOF’s Letter of Credit requirement; and (4) the Bureau ignored and implicitly denied Starlink’s request for a waiver of the eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) designation deadline. But the FCC found that the Bureau followed Commission guidance and correctly concluded that Starlink is not reasonably capable of offering the required high-speed, low-latency service throughout the areas where it won auction support.