In the US, providers typically negotiate exclusive long-term contracts with local government. The argument is that's the only way to make it profitable enough t

In the US, providers typically negotiate exclusive long-term contracts with local government. The argument is that's the only way to make it profitable enough to invest in building out the infrastructure. The only way around that is for localities to build out the backbone themselves and then request competitive bids, but the providers counter that strategy by lobbying state representatives to ban local Internet infra in the name of privatization or core competency. One workaround for that would be what's done in old European cities where you can't dig or easily run wires/fiber: just build out a backbone for wireless infra, then let providers compete on last mile wifi/billing/service/price.