27-02-2025, 14:21
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#1117
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laeva recumbens anguis
Cable Forum Team
Join Date: Jun 2006
Age: 68
Services: Premiere Collection
Posts: 43,779
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Re: President Trump 2.0
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...e-faa-verizon/
Quote:
The Federal Aviation Administration is close to canceling a $2.4 billion contract to overhaul a communications system that serves as the backbone of the nation’s air traffic control system and awarding the work to Elon Musk’s Starlink, according to two people briefed on the plans.
The move to cancel a major contract in favor of a venture led by Musk — who is leading President Donald Trump’s disruptive overhaul of the federal government through the U.S. DOGE Service — would represent a significant test of protections against conflicts of interest in government projects. It would be an especially extraordinary step for the typically cautious FAA, whose systems are vital to the safety of millions of air travelers every day.
The existing contract was awarded to Verizon in 2023, with the aim of upgrading a platform that different air traffic control facilities and FAA offices use to communicate with one another…
… Verizon was tapped in 2023 to build a system called the FAA Enterprise Network Services Program or FENS, replacing a system that dates to 2002. The contract had a 15-year lifespan, and the system is intended to connect some 4,600 sites, according to the FAA.
The agency was scheduled to make a final decision on whether to start paying Verizon for the contract next month, said one of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Instead, Musk’s team determined the job should go to Starlink, the person said. But the process for unwinding a contract and awarding it to another company is lengthy and has not been followed in this case so far, the person said.
Several senior FAA officials have refused to sign paperwork authorizing the switch, according to the person, who has been briefed on the internal deliberations and resulting fallout, so Musk’s team is now seeking help from the acting administrator of the agency, Trump appointee Chris Rocheleau, and Duffy.
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