June 2020

Using data collected from providers across the state, many Minnesotans live in areas that are underserved or unserved — meaning they have inadequate downloading and uploading speeds or no access at all. In addition, there are households that show up as being covered in this map that are actually unserved. Getting a clear count on just how many Minnesota students are lacking adequate broadband access, however, has proven to be a challenge.

SpaceX is slated to launch the latest batch of 60 internet-beaming satellites for its ever-growing Starlink constellation on the night of June 3. Once this mission takes off, SpaceX will have launched a little more than 480 of its Starlink satellites into orbit. That’s only a small fraction of the nearly 12,000 Starlink satellites that the company has permission to launch. The goal of the massive project is to provide global internet coverage from space.

The Federal Communications Commission told the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that Huawei is wrong on all counts in its challenge to the FCC's decision to exclude suspect tech in general from its Universal Service Fund subsidies and, tentatively, Huawei in particular. Even if the FCC had not moved to exclude technology deemed a national security threat from the Universal Service Fund dollars, Congress seconded that with legislation that required it.  The FCC filed in court with Huawei's appeal of the FCC decision, saying the court can make its decision based on those briefs but t