FCC cancels Starlink’s and LTD's rural development grants

Re:FCC cancels Starlink’s and LTD's rural development grants by bityard on Wednesday August 10, 2022 @04:52PM (#32418275)

This might be an odd notion considering the average HN commenter but hear me out. It's _just_ possible the guy running that ISP isn't doing it to grow into a VC-backed unicorn with an exit strategy of getting scooped up by a FAANG in 5 years.

He doesn't want to _lose_ money on it, but he's an engineer and has evaluated the risks and costs and found them acceptable. He's doing it because because the incumbent ISP won't, because it's a challenge, and because he wants to to serve his community. Or so I've been able to gather.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:FCC cancels Starlink’s and LTD's rural development grants by stephen_greet on Wednesday August 10, 2022 @05:53PM (#32418904)

But running an ISP requires a metric ton of capital upfront. No matter the motivation, how do you get that capital?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:FCC cancels Starlink’s and LTD's rural development grants by bityard on Monday August 15, 2022 @12:04PM (#32471417)

I can't speak for the guy running this network so I don't know if he has investors or creditors or what, but I live in the same area as he does and can say that if you have a high-paying tech job well into the six figures and live in a LCOL area like this (AND don't blow it all on hedonic purchases like luxury pickups), it's not hard to amass a surprising surplus of cash in a surprisingly short amount of time.

[ Parent | on HN ]