Plus, developers of a Utah data center land a $2 billion loan to build a 100-acre campus. And Best Buy warns U.S. customers of possible higher prices as a new round of tariffs takes effect. Julie Chang hosts.
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[00:00:30] Tuesday, March 4th. I'm Julie Chang for The Wall Street Journal. We're exclusively reporting that the Commerce Department is overhauling a Biden-era program aimed at expanding Internet access across the country. The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program is a $42.5 billion program created by the 2021 infrastructure bill. Under its new rules, Elon Musk's satellite Internet service Starlink will be eligible for more rural broadband funding.
[00:00:58] That's according to people familiar with the plans. The People said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has told staff he plans to make the program technology neutral. That change would allow more funds to be given to satellite Internet providers instead of mainly to companies that lay fiber-optic cables. Under the program's original rules, Starlink was expected to get roughly $4 billion. With Lutnick's overhaul, Starlink could receive $10 to $20 billion, the People said.
[00:01:26] A White House spokesman said the Trump administration is committed to slashing government bureaucracy and harnessing cutting-edge technology to deliver real results. A Starlink representative didn't respond to a request for comment. Developers have secured a $2 billion loan for a 100-acre data center campus in West Jordan, Utah. The borrower is a venture of real estate investor CIM Group and Nova data centers.
[00:01:53] The lenders are JPMorgan Chase and Starwood Property Trust. It's one of the biggest construction loans for a data center in recent years, a sign of the market's continued appetite for artificial intelligence facilities. The loan marks the second data center construction loan of more than $2 billion this year. JPMorgan Chase lent $2.3 billion in January for a facility in Texas.
[00:02:16] Until recently, nearly every data center construction loan was less than $1 billion and typically amounted to less than half of that. And Best Buy says that U.S. customers are likely to see higher prices as a new round of tariffs takes effect. Its CEO said the company expects vendors to pass along some level of tariff costs to retailers. Best Buy's top two sources for products are China and Mexico.
[00:02:42] President Trump's 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico took effect today. Mexico's president said it would retaliate. The U.S. also introduced an extra 10% tariff on Chinese imports overnight. China swiftly announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods and other measures against American companies. The measures could cause consumers to further delay purchases on computers, video game consoles, and other big-ticket electronics.
[00:03:09] For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out tomorrow's Tech News Briefing podcast.