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The next phase of Elon Musk’s plan to entangle his companies with the workings of the federal government is well underway. That entails not only President Donald Trump’s photo op with a Tesla in front of the White House but also, surprisingly, the future of your internet connection.
More specifically, Musk is making moves that could change the way millions of Americans access the internet by boosting Starlink, the satellite-based internet company operated by his company, SpaceX, of which he is the founder, CEO, and major shareholder.
Starlink and other space-based internet projects work by beaming internet service from satellites in orbit down to Earth’s surface, as opposed to wired broadband internet, which typically relies on fiber-optic cable. Satellite internet’s major advantage is that, with a few exceptions, it can work almost anywhere on the planet. Its drawbacks — including slow speeds, high latency, and spotty reliability — mean that fiber internet is better for the vast majority of people right now.
In the last week or so, the Commerce Department said it plans to rewrite the rules of a $42 billion high-speed internet initiative in a way that would benefit Starlink. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) meanwhile granted Starlink a waiver that will make its new service, which lets phones connect to satellites, more powerful, as satellite competitors urged the agency to rein in Musk’s company, which they say is “anticompetitive.”
Musk affiliates have also reportedly instructed government agencies to start using Starlink, and the General Services Administration is already doing it, apparently without oversight. SpaceX confirmed that it’s leasing Starlink kits to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), amid reports that the agency might cancel a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon and award it to Starlink instead. The company denied that it was trying to take over the contract.
There are billions of dollars at stake here, but this isn’t just about the money. (Musk doesn’t really need it.) Some people are worried that these developments represent the early steps of a power shift in the telecom industry, one that could result in the world’s richest man deciding how the nation’s communications network works.
“We have never before had a situation where the owner of a major communications company is inside the government. This is a very unusual situation.”
In addition to hacking away at the federal government in his unelected position as the head of DOGE, Musk could also become the single individual who is “the dominant force in telecom policy,” according to Blair Levin, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and former chief of staff at the FCC. What’s more, the US telecommunications system is key to national security, and Musk’s business interests might not always line up with Washington’s.
“We have never before had a situation where the owner of a major communications company is inside the government. This is a very unusual situation,” Levin said. “It’s very troubling.”
Some of this must sound hyperbolic. It’s also hypothetical — for now. I’ve been writing about Starlink since before it launched its first batch of satellites in 2019, and from bringing remote parts of the world online to connecting Ukrainian soldiers at war, there’s no doubt that the technology is incredible.
But if recent events are any indication, the Trump administration plans to advantage Starlink in ways that benefit Musk more than the people who need better internet service. It also opens the door for Musk to become a much bigger power broker in the telecom world — and have more of a say in how you get online.
Elon’s space internet is not better than Earth internet yet
It’s tempting to think Starlink is the future of internet service. It’s very easy to set up, which is a huge deal to anyone who lacks broadband access — soldiers in Ukraine, for example, or farmers in rural America. But Starlink is not the same as the fiber-based broadband that’s become the gold standard for internet access.
For a number of reasons, space internet isn’t as fast, as reliable, or as cheap as terrestrial broadband. That’s why Congress prioritized companies that lay fiber-optic cable with the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which provides federal funding to bring high-speed internet access to as many as 8 million Americans who have never had it, as part of the 2021 infrastructure bill. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick now wants to make the program “technology neutral,” a change that would increase Starlink’s chances of getting grants. Whereas Musk’s company was on track to receive a little over $4 billion under the old rules, Starlink could now get between $10 billion and $20 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
If the Commerce Department goes through with the proposed changes to the BEAD program, its implementation would be delayed — more than one expert told me it would be by at least a year. Which is ironic given that Republicans made delays in BEAD’s rollout a talking point during the 2024 election. This process involves digging miles of trenches for tubes of cables that connect far-flung parts of the country. It takes time and costs money, but this infrastructure would last for decades.
“It is truly a historic opportunity to get fiber to a lot of these places,” Drew Garner, director of policy engagement at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, told me. “We’ll probably never have another opportunity like this.”
Some argue that Starlink and other satellite-based internet companies could get people online more quickly and without the expense of laying fiber. Starlink already has more than 7,000 satellites in orbit and is trying to add more. But it’s unclear how quickly Starlink could actually add more users, since the company already has a waiting list for people to sign up because its network is at capacity.
That’s not to mention the fact that, for now, Starlink is neither faster nor cheaper than terrestrial broadband. Starlink delivers download speeds of 50 to 100 Mbps, while the FCC defines broadband as 100 Mbps. The average download speed in the US is about 275 Mbps. Starlink also currently charges customers $80 a month for its “Residential Lite” service, while the average US internet bill is $78 a month.
This is what makes the Trump administration’s apparent preferential treatment of Musk’s company so frustrating. It’s a poorer solution that takes longer and doesn’t result in savings for most Americans.
Musk posts Starlink into the FAA
We don’t yet know how things will shake out with BEAD. The Commerce Department could change its mind, and the broadband infrastructure expansion could break ground in a few states this spring. However, the Trump administration is already starting to use Starlink in unusual ways.
The FAA, like many federal government agencies, is dealing with massive staff cuts at the behest of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Just days after 67 people died in a midair collision near Washington’s Reagan Airport, Musk’s staff urged FAA staffers to accept buyout offers, which more than 1,300 of them did, according to the Atlantic. DOGE also ended up firing about 400 FAA employees. When Musk’s team tried to lay off air traffic controllers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy finally intervened.
At the same time — and operating on orders from Musk himself — a SpaceX engineer started to deploy Starlink technology on FAA systems. Musk posted on X that “the Verizon communication system to air traffic control is breaking down very rapidly,” that “the situation is extremely dire,” and that he would send Starlink dishes to the rescue. The FAA has since confirmed that it’s reviewing the $2.4 billion Verizon contract and testing Starlink equipment at several locations, including in Alaska, New Jersey, and Oklahoma.
Musk’s posting-fueled intervention at the FAA is a scary one. Almost single-handedly, the billionaire threw cold water on a contract with Verizon, one that will affect the safety and security of Americans. Although it’s not clear if Starlink will indeed take over this particular contract, we have a glimpse at what it looks like for a singular bureaucrat — one that sells satellite dishes that don’t always work — to call the shots.
“If you’re downloading stuff to your house in a rural area, and your speed drops because the system is oversubscribed, that’s annoying,” said Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge. “If you’re the FAA, and your speed drops because the capacity is oversubscribed, that’s deadly.”
Project 2025’s surprising role in all this
Elon Musk and DOGE, which is run by employees of Musk’s companies, certainly appear to be operating within the federal government to promote the best interests of those companies. The “why” of it all will take some time to figure out. Less than two months into Trump’s second presidency, we’re too busy keeping track of what’s even happening, especially where Musk is involved.
As for Starlink and Elon Musk’s apparent ambitions to dominate the US telecom industry, the FCC’s cooperation is essential. And Brendan Carr, the agency’s new chair, happens to be a big Elon Musk fan. Carr first made contact with Musk on X, where the two exchanged complaints about Democrats denying Starlink broadband subsidies and blamed Kamala Harris for rolling BEAD out too slowly. Carr was also the author of the chapter on the FCC for the big report published by the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. In it, he argues against terrestrial broadband expansion and in favor of accelerating the development of satellite technology, like Starlink.
One of Project 2025’s main goals is to “dismantle the administrative state,” and in Musk, the right found a key ally. Musk has also found an opportunity: When the bureaucrats are all fired, someone still has to make decisions, and it’s easier to move quickly without any oversight.
Across the world, people are setting Tesla dealerships on fire to protest Musk’s gutting of the federal workforce and hoping to tank its stock. But what’s happening more quietly with Starlink, the Commerce Department, and the FCC shows that the multibillionaire isn’t just interested in making money. He’s consolidating power in Washington and helping determine what the future will look like.
Selling cars is one thing, but taking control over America’s telecommunications network is another. Musk is not there yet, but we have already seen Musk use Starlink specifically to intervene in military operations abroad — he prevented Ukraine from launching a surprise attack against Russia in 2022. That sets a scary precedent for what the future holds.
“Elon Musk has been pretty cavalier about his ability to turn on or turn off Starlink to influence policy decisions,” Garner, from the Benton Institute, told me, referring to a series of recent posts on X from Musk about cutting off Starlink access in Ukraine.
It’s not just scary that Musk is becoming more powerful in the telecom industry. It is uniquely terrifying that he alone could decide to bring networks down. And that might be an even more important development to keep our eyes on than the Tesla ad he produced in front of the White House.
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