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........

© Vox