Money quotes: > Internet service providers (ISPs), such as Verizon, Comcast, AT&T and Charter [...] have deliberately restricted competition, kept prices high

Money quotes: > Internet service providers (ISPs), such as Verizon, Comcast, AT&T and Charter [...] have deliberately restricted competition, kept prices high and used their armies of lobbyists to persuade state legislatures to ban towns and cities from building their own public networks. > ISPs have been able to get away with fostering pseudo-monopolies because they spend a lot of money to keep the regulatory environment and the conversation surrounding it murky. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a former Verizon lawyer, has been an effective agent for ISPs. He led the charge to dismantle net neutrality last year, and he has done everything in his power to stop municipalities from building their own broadband infrastructure. > Horror stories starring giant Internet companies are practically universal. In the wealthiest country on the planet, we lag behind many other developed nations in connectivity and speed, while also paying more for that service. That’s why companies such as Comcast consistently rank as the United States’ most hated companies by consumers. When you eliminate a competitive market and replace it with regional monopolies or duopolies, providers have no incentive to improve their service. The proposed solution is federal grants to enable electricity and telephone cooperatives, nonprofit organizations, tribes, cities, counties and other state subdivisions to provide broadband internet in their local markets, thereby creating competition for ISPs.