Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr has urged Europe to make a definitive choice between aligning with U.S. or Chinese technology, warning of the consequences of turning away from American options like Elon Musk’s Starlink.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Carr expressed concern over European hesitation to adopt Starlink’s satellite communications, emphasizing that opting instead for Chinese alternatives could leave nations worse off in the long run. “Allied western democracies need to focus on the real long-term bogey: the rise of the Chinese Communist Party,” Carr stated.
His comments come amid reports suggesting that Washington has threatened to disable Starlink services in Ukraine. Musk has denied these claims, asserting that Starlink would never cut off access in the country, and has called the reports “bogus.”
Carr, a vocal supporter of Starlink and a critic of the Biden administration’s decision to withhold federal broadband subsidies from the company, said it was “unfortunate” that political agendas appeared to be steering critical technological decisions.
“If you’re concerned about Starlink, just wait for the CCP’s version, then you’ll be really worried,” he warned.
UK telecom operators BT and Virgin Media O2 are currently testing Starlink’s services, while Europe pursues its own independent satellite system. The EU’s IRIS² project, developed in partnership with the European Space Agency, aims to deploy a sovereign satellite fleet of 290 machines in both low and medium Earth orbit by 2029. The initiative is being led by the SpaceRise consortium, which includes SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat.
Carr also noted that Europe appears caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war. “If Europe has its own satellite constellation, then great, I think the more the better. But more broadly, I think Europe is caught a little bit between the US and China. And it’s sort of time for choosing,” he said.
In the same interview, Carr advised telecom giants Ericsson and Nokia to consider relocating more of their manufacturing operations to the U.S., as both companies could be impacted by renewed import tariffs under Trump-era trade policies.
