Including cable providers is fine. The issue is how this money is structured. It needs to be a loan where the debt is forgiven once you reach certain milestones

Including cable providers is fine. The issue is how this money is structured. It needs to be a loan where the debt is forgiven once you reach certain milestones. The issue with the money earlier was there wasn't any teeth when it came to enforcing what was to be done with the funds. Make the loan be equally competitive - any company can apply for any amount of money, and a small amount of the loan is forgiven per user they bring above the 100/100 mark (with possibly a bonus to rural users). Any backbone infrastructure created with these loans needs to be peerable as well.