States should embrace satellite internet, overhaul policies, new research says
A report published Thursday by two think tanks recommends that state broadband subsidy programs embrace low Earth orbit satellite internet service, due to its purported advantages over terrestrial alternatives.
The report from New America’s Wireless Future and the International Center for Law and Economics, evaluates the policies and challenges to expanding the use of LEO satellite internet, and urges policymakers to update regulations governing satellite. The report, created by the groups’ independent LEO Policy Working Group, states that while advances in LEO technology promise improvement in service and reliability, they explain in a news release that its “full potential is currently hamstrung by outdated, burdensome, and overly restrictive licensing systems.”
Many broadband advocates have long considered fiber optic cables to be the gold standard of internet connectivity, favored for their reliability, speed and longevity. But the report says expansion of satellite technology is impeded within state broadband subsidy programs, which “need an overhaul” that would gives program administrators the ability to better evaluate internet technologies on their merits, allowing LEO satellite service to compete with other technologies, like fiber or fixed wireless.
The Department of Commerce announced in June changes to one of the largest broadband subsidy programs, the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, that allowed more dollars to be directed to satellite.
With every state but California having submitted its final proposal on BEAD spending, states opted for satellite for, on average, about 19% of their projects.
The report also makes several recommendations for state and local governments to better integrate and support LEO satellite services, including improving the process of mapping broadband availability and data collection to better reflect satellite coverage. This includes incorporating factors, such as terrain, obstructions and capacity, that impact how effective satellite can be. Mapping challenges have plagued state broadband programs and the Federal Communications Commission for years.
Another policy move the report suggests for states is to standardize the process for verifying satellite providers’ capacity and deployment promises to ensure they meet technical and logistical requirements of certain broadband programs beyond just the 100/20 megabits per second performance standard.
“State broadband offices and similar local decision makers tasked with dispensing funding may be less versed in determining whether a satellite provider’s promises are feasible than those of a terrestrial provider, especially because some of those advances hinge on federal decision-making with an opaque or uncertain trajectory,” the report says. “Nevertheless, it remains important to verify upfront that bidders in deployment programs have the technical ability, finances, and capacity to pull off programmatic commitments.
“While the recent BEAD guidelines put the onus of verifying technical capacity on NTIA, expecting state broadband offices to navigate a world of LEO satellite-as-broadband service over the long term, without full ability to vet providers themselves, is an unsustainable solution.”
It also encourages governments to consider benefits of satellite deployment, such as improved access to health and education services, and economic benefits related to deployment activities. Though the report concedes that deployment of satellite service does not create local jobs to the same degree that the build of a fiber network might. A report from the Pew Research Center published Thursday found there are a number of workforce shortages that may challenge the ability to expand terrestrial broadband infrastructure under the BEAD program.
“If U.S. broadband policy requires the complex balancing of short-term results with long-term benefits — all done within the constraints of a budget — all viable technologies must be utilized where appropriate,” the report says. “As a general matter, so long as LEO satellite service normally meets the minimum 100/20 Mbps performance standard and provides generally functional broadband service to users, it should be eligible for all existing broadband subsidy programs. This would mark a true shift toward tech neutrality in both federal and state broadband policy by gating participation based on quality of service, not kind of technology.”
