Overview

• SpaceX asked federal reviewers to reject Virginia’s fiber‑heavy proposal, calling it a “massive waste of federal taxpayer money” and urging more satellite allocations.
• In an Aug. 15 filing to Louisiana, the company criticized a $400 million fiber plan versus $7.7 million for Starlink and claimed it could serve virtually all remaining households for under $100 million.
• The National Telecommunications and Information Administration updated BEAD guidance to remove prior fiber‑first preferences and warned states they could lose funds if they set base price requirements for low‑income plans.
• Rural broadband advocates argue Low Earth Orbit satellites face capacity, spectrum and reliability limits and cannot match fiber’s gigabit speeds for universal service.
• The $42.5 billion BEAD program has been slowed as states rework plans under the new rules, adding uncertainty to deployment timelines.