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> There's not really an unmet need for innovation in broadband delivery; the issue is running new wires broadband has costs, and in a lot of places, the ROI on
by ToucanLoucan 3y ago
> There's not really an unmet need for innovation in broadband delivery; the issue is running new wires broadband has costs, and in a lot of places, the ROI on running new wires for broadband doesn't justify doing it.
This sounds like exactly the sort of thing a private company is going to be terrible at. And even with the grants, it seems they are and have been since I was in preschool.
- toast0 3y agoYeah, grants don't really seem to work here; my point was more that if you thought they were for innovation, that was way off-base. The grants can be helpful for upstarts, but not when the criteria exclude upstarts. If the goal is universal service, it really needs to be mandatory, not voluntary, even with incentives (especially poorly administered incentives). But mandatory service is usually connected with a granted monopoly, which isn't really what we want either. On the other hand, if it takes long enough to get everyone wired, wireless options will become competitive. Between LEO internet services (StarLink, maybe OneWeb and friends) and terrestrial 5G-NR, I think it's quite likely that few places without current wired broadband will ever get it.