Biden’s internet-for-all program needs Musk’s help

Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink, is expected to play a role in the Biden administration’s $42 billion program to bring high-speed internet to every American home, as Washington comes up against some hard math in its effort to build networks reaching the most remote corners of the nation. The growing discussion of using Starlink to fill in coverage gaps is an acknowledgment of just how expensive and challenging it would be to run new internet cables up every mountain and down every valley nationwide. The administration’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program also faces cost pressures from a “Made in America” requirement for construction materials. Alan Davidson, the head of the federal government’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees the BEAD program, said fiber-optic cables will be deployed for most of the program. But Starlink is an option in extremely remote areas where it would be too pricey to run fiber. While each state is developing its own plan and selecting its own vendors, Davidson said he expects “many” of the state plans to include a provision that opens the door for Starlink to apply for the grants.