“Did you know the state of Michigan only lets you build a network if enough private companies don’t bid? Florida requires local officials to explain how their network will be profitable within four years, as if profits were the point of fixing the digital divide. Nevada will only let towns and counties with tiny populations erect their own networks. Virginia local networks aren’t allowed to charge less than the incumbents — it’s illegal to make the internet more affordable!”
The level of rot within the ISP industry at the fed, state, and private level is holding back to the US from expanding internet coverage across the country especially rural areas.
America’s geography makes it much more difficult to reach the level of fiber coverage that other western countries currently have, but let’s not kid ourselves in thinking that ISP companies and regulators have been trying to solve this problem.