Trump admin tells Pennsylvania, other states to shift broadband focus to cheaper options like Elon Musk’s Starlink; ABC27, June 17, 2025

 Charlotte Keith of Spotlight PA via ABC27 , ABC27; Trump admin tells Pennsylvania, other states to shift broadband focus to cheaper options like Elon Musk’s Starlink

[Kip Currier: Consider how ill-advised and short-sighted this Trump 2.0 policy maneuver is; a gambit with concerning ramifications for Internet access throughout the U.S.:

First, as part of his DEI purges, Trump terminates the Digital Equity Act of 2021 on May 9, 2025 with an executive order, claiming that the bi-partisan law, signed by Joe Biden, for expanding high speed Internet access to millions of Americans (especially rural Americans) was unconstitutional and "racist".

Now, in June 2025 Trump encourages states to sign on to billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink satellite service. Musk's DOGE cuts have decimated government services.

As the nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom Spotlight PA points out in this article, too, Musk's Starlink Internet access and other carriers being pushed by the Trump administration rely on less reliable WiFi and satellite service, rather than "the internet via fiber optic cables, widely considered the gold standard for speed and reliability." 

Given Musk's recent tantrum during his early June dust-up with Trump in which Musk threatened to discontinue making his SpaceX Dragon spacecraft available to the U.S., does it seem like a well-advised policy decision to give Musk the power to control the Internet access of hundreds of thousands if not millions of Americans?]

[Excerpt]

"Sweeping changes are coming to a massive program that aims to bring high-speed internet to everyone in the U.S., after the Trump administration rejected one of the initiative’s key policy goals.

The new rules for the $42.5 billion program change the way states will evaluate competing proposals, which areas are eligible for funding, and how long states have to award the grants. The announcement in early June upended months of planning and left Pennsylvania officials scrambling as they race to meet a newly accelerated timeline for getting the money out.

The changes likely will result in fewer Pennsylvanians in remote and rural areas being connected to the internet via fiber optic cables, widely considered the gold standard for speed and reliability. The program originally prioritized fiber projects, but under the new rules, states must select winners based on the lowest cost. The change will make applications from wireless and satellite internet providers, including Elon Musk’s Starlink, more competitive."