They have not cancelled the plans to use lasers, but have delayed the introduction of lasers until "satellite version 2.0", whatever that means. That is, the i

They have not cancelled the plans to use lasers, but have delayed the introduction of lasers until "satellite version 2.0", whatever that means. That is, the initial constellation (my guess, the first 800 satellites) goes up without intersat links and acts as a bent pipe only. Lasers are still very much a plan for the later parts on the constellation, and the laserless satellites will eventually be replaced with ones with the lasers once they age out, but the laser links were simply not ready yet and their spectrum license essentially forces them to put the birds up on as quick a schedule as they can. The laserless sats will not use radio to communicate with each other, but rather will use it to communicate with customers and fixed earth stations.