STARLINK: Louisiana's ConnectLA, the state’s Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity, signed a grant agreement with SpaceX to provide Starlink to more than 10,000 rural locations across more than 50 parishes by the end of summer! Customers will receive free equipment and pay about $55 per month. Starlink exceeds the state’s high-speed standard of 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload. The service is limited to areas where fiber is not cost-effective. Per ConnectLA Executive Director Veneeth Iyengar, "The cost of providing fiber connectivity for some of these locations was going to be so expensive that likely it would have made better sense, and it would have been quicker, to connect these folks with Starlink. The state law states high-speed internet as 100 megabits download and 20 megabits upload. Starlink has consistently shown that they provide in excess of those speeds. I would say 98%-99% of the state’s going to be covered with fiber. And then those areas where there is no fiber will be serviced by Starlink..." More Starlink news in today's EC below!