Thousands of West Virginians rely on the Elon Musk-owned satellite company for high-speed internet access, even as federal regulators say it can’t meet the basic requirements to be defined as “broadband.”
by Tre Spencer
This story was originally published by Mountain State Spotlight. Get stories like this delivered to your email inbox once a week; sign up for the free newsletter at https://mountainstatespotlight.org/newsletter.
Two years ago, the DSL internet at Aeriell Turner’s home in rural Raleigh County grew increasingly unreliable as she began to rely on her phone’s mobile hotspot for work.
“The lines where I live are notoriously bad,” she said.
But then, Turner, an insurance agent who works remotely, switched to Starlink.
Now, as she turns on her computer at the beginning of each work day, a sleek white router softly blinks in her living room reminding her that her internet troubles are far behind.
She now answers video calls and interacts with her clients without interrupted service.
“A good internet connection is a literal lifeline,” she said.
For West Virginians like Turner, Starlink promises a solution to their desperate need for fast and reliable internet access. Residents say they’ve turned to the company, despite the high price tag, while they wait for faster, more reliable internet from traditional providers.
However, federal regulators concluded that the company couldn’t meet promised speeds and rejected its application for nearly $900 million in subsidies in 2022.
Now, as West Virginians continue to search for answers, Starlink could soon be in line for more of the flood of federal dollars to expand broadband.
The company’s owner, Elon Musk, is not only the richest person in the world, but he spent $200 million to help Donald Trump get back to the White House. And Trump has already said he plans to appoint a Musk ally to run the Federal Communications Commission.
SpaceX, which owns Starlink, did not respond to a request for comment.
State officials are in the midst of a $1.2 billion push to bring high-speed internet to every corner of West Virginia by 2029. However, the roll-out has been hindered by disputes between utility companies and internet service providers on the ground.
Starlink hasn’t released exact numbers for how many customers they have in West Virginia. The company is not required to share that information, said Del. Daniel Linville, chair of the House Infrastructure and Technology Committee.
But, the number of subscribers is increasing monthly in the state, he said.
Kensey Bergdorf-Smith, director of the West Virginia Science and Technology Policy Initiative, said despite its growing popularity, satellite internet still has challenges compared to other broadband options.
A dish must be properly positioned and be free of interference like trees and bad weather for the strongest service, she said.
“The concern with satellite internet is that it’s not super reliable,” she said. “It doesn’t always reach the speeds that it needs to, and it’s also pretty pricey compared to standard broadband options.”
Starlink was denied millions in federal subsidies
In 2022, Starlink’s long-form application for a $885 million contract from the FCC through its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund was denied. The fund was created to expand broadband to rural communities and the subsidies would have been released over 10 years.
The company was to deploy internet service to over 600,000 homes and businesses across 35 states with speeds of at least 100 megabits per second download and 20 megabits per second download upload.
Those speeds are defined as the bare minimum to qualify as broadband following new standards passed by the FCC earlier this year.
Federal officials determined the company would be unable to provide high-speed internet to the amount of homes it had proposed. The FCC affirmed that decision last year.
“The agency also has a responsibility to be a good steward of limited public funds meant to expand access to rural broadband, not fund applicants that fail to meet basic program requirements,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a press release.
Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the FCC, dissented from the agency’s ruling writing that the decision follows the Biden administration’s pattern of “regulatory harassment” against Elon Musk.
This week, President-elect Donald Trump named Carr as the new chairman of the commission. As chairman, Carr could exert influence over decisions with the potential to send hundreds of millions of dollars in federal subsidies to Starlink.
Starlink service is expanding from space, while internet providers hit snags on the ground
From outer space to deep inside a holler, high-speed internet can reach homes without traditional infrastructure like poles and cables using satellites that bounce signals as long as there is a clear view of the sky.
The company offers residential plans for $120 a month with unlimited data and charges a $349 upfront cost for hardware like the router and mountable disk.
In a 2023 survey of over 2,000 West Virginians by state broadband officials, 15% said they use satellite internet and generally paid more than people using other providers.
Alex Cain, owner of Country Roads Satellites in Clarksburg, said that his team travels across the state installing Starlink mounts on homes, and most customers have resorted to satellite service because they’ve had unreliable, slow internet connections.
“When Starlink came out, it was kind of a game changer just because the speeds are 20 times faster,” he said. “We’ve been doing five to six installs a week.”
Starlink’s satellites circle the planet in a much lower orbit than older satellite internet providers. That means Starlink satellites should be faster than competitors.
Outside of Durbin on the northern end of Pocahontas County, Elizabeth Stewart lives with her husband in a wooded area and uses Starlink to work from home.
They’ve put their dish in a clearing where there isn’t interference from trees in the yard. She said she’s been a customer for three years despite other providers offering cheaper plans and doesn’t mind paying the higher cost.
“You have to shell out about 500 bucks to get the service and a lot of people can’t afford to do that,” she said. “But, online is my life, and it’s how I’m able to work from home.”
