Constraints on Satellite Broadband

In a 2024 end-of-year memo, Gary Bolton of the Fiber Broadband Association said that FBA had partnered with the consulting firm Cartesian to look at the pros and cons of Starlink in the U.S. FBA says that report shows that Starlink currently has 1.4 million customers in the U.S., and with the current satellite constellation has the capacity to serve 1.7 million customers. The implied conclusion of the report is that Starlink can’t serve everybody in rural America. Starlink has never claimed that ability or goal. However, since there are those advocating that most of the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant award should go to satellite broadband, it’s fair to assess Starlink’s capacity. I have to agree with FBA that Starlink isn’t prepared to handle everybody in rural America today—something I’m sure Starlink would acknowledge. The question that FBA is raising is if satellite capacity can grow quickly enough to meet increasing demands from BEAD plus normal growth.