Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Wednesday said that the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to not move forward with an award for SpaceX’s Starlink to provide rural broadband may have cost lives in North Carolina when it was hit by Hurricane Helene.
Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, responded to a post on X from a user who noted that “North Carolina would have 19,522 working Starlink kits available today after Hurricane Helene had the FCC not revoked in bad faith the grant that was awarded to SpaceX as the winning bidder.”
“Had the FCC not illegally revoked the SpaceX Starlink award, it would probably have saved lives in North Carolina,” Musk wrote in his response. “Lawfare costs lives.”
The western part of North Carolina was hit particularly hard by Hurricane Helene, which also brought devastation to other parts of the Southeast after it made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a category 4 hurricane. At least 170 people have been confirmed dead in six states – Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee – in what is now the second-deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland.
SpaceX’s Starlink, which provides high-speed internet via satellite connections, was awarded $885 million by the FCC in 2020 to help expand high-speed internet access around the country in rural areas.
The FCC rescinded that initial award in 2022, arguing Starlink wouldn’t be reasonably capable of meeting the program’s requirements, and reaffirmed that decision in Dec. 2023.
An FCC spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement, “Chairwoman Rosenworcel stands by the FCC’s thorough review of a program meant to provide long-term access to reliable and affordable broadband in rural communities.”
“In this instance, the agency denied public funds to more than a dozen companies – not just Starlink – who did not meet the program requirements. As an independent agency, the FCC takes seriously its obligation to ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to entities that fully comply with the rules and the law,” the FCC statement continued.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who has criticized the agency’s decision not to award rural broadband funds to SpaceX, told FOX Business: “There is no question that communities across the country would be in a materially better position today, in terms of connectivity, if the government had not unlawfully revoked the 2020 award Starlink lawfully won.”
Carr previously told FOX Business that he viewed the decision to rescind the Starlink award as being driven by partisan politics in light of President Biden’s prior statements that Musk’s relationships with other countries are “worthy of being looked at” and other regulatory scrutiny federal agencies have brought to bear on Musk’s business.
Residents of communities impacted by Hurricane Helene, which brought historic flooding to regions of western North Carolina, are still trying to restore communications and power to affected areas – an effort that’s been hampered by the level of damage to roads and bridges in the region.
Former President Trump said Monday that he “just spoke to Elon” because he wanted to “get Starlink hooked up because they have no communication whatsoever” due to storm damage.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates had posted Monday afternoon on X that “this was already happening.” In an update on Wednesday, Bates said on X that FEMA has helped provide 67 total Starlink systems to the state.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said in a press release Wednesday that it has provided 50 Starlink satellite systems to help with responders’ communications.
Starlink said Tuesday that a total of roughly 500 Starlink kits have arrived or will arrive in areas impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Musk also announced that Starlink was working to make the system work in hurricane-affected areas regardless of payment status, essentially providing free access for those impacted by Helene.
