2 ms·

> How hard is it to run km of wire from the nearest town? If it's not hard, why hasn't it happened already?

• oh_my_goodness 2y ago
  To be fair, people are already using wire.
• digging 2y ago
  (in the US) It may be hard for a new company but easy for existing telecom giants. But existing telecom giants don't give a shit about national internet infrastructure quality, so if connecting rural customers simply appears less profitable* than focusing on current operations[1], they won't do it. [1] Current operations include the obviously profitable "send monthly marketing materials via mail, email, and live salespersons to homes who canceled your services the day they had an alternative," among other idiotic practices.
• FredPret 2y ago
  Super hard. You have to dig a trench or span the wire. Either way you need to clear it with numerous property owners over a vast distance, get approval from dozens of authorities along the way, coordinate work crews, and then do maintenance on the whole thing for decades. And then you discover that the wire used 50 years ago contained lead and we don't like that anymore, so now you have to pay for massive lawsuits (look up AT&T & Verizon) and rip up all that wire. More coordinating work crews and property owners! And then they invent a new kind of wire and you have to do it all again. Launching 1000's of satellites isn't easy but I can see wanting to do that rather than wire up the whole planet.
• ajford 2y ago
  Because telecoms keep pocketing the money instead of actually building out broadband. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-book-of-broken-promis_b_5839394 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-book-of-broken-promis_b_5...