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I'm always surprised when I see posts about only having a single option for broadband. I've got three options currently, with Verizon 5G Home literally a block

• sp332 7y ago
  ISPs are often given franchises by local governments. They agree to make service available to a certain % of residents, even if they are not individually profitable, and provide decent speeds to schools etc. In exchange they get access to rights-of-way to run cables and other things that make competition difficult. It's kind of a natural monopoly anyway since keeping up all the physical plant is expensive and there's no reason for multiple companies to do it, kind of like water or power companies.
  • mirimir 7y ago
    They could share infrastructure, as electricity providers do.
    • penumbra2000 7y ago
      I think this could recreate the problem to some extent, as the shared infrastructure would be owned/administrated by someone, who then would have lots of aggregate data to sell.