I think the basic problem is the structure of the industry and the kind of people who are in it. In USA, by and large the telco business is a mafia business. Th

I think the basic problem is the structure of the industry and the kind of people who are in it. In USA, by and large the telco business is a mafia business. That is what is fundamental is control of the territory. This is clear when a state is divided into two parts: one for Verizon and one for ATT. It is clear when one reason given is the costs of "right of way" that needs to be paid to the city: it is a deal between mafia groups. Simply think about it: if you are interested in high tech, where do you go in the USA? Certainly not to the telco. Now ask the same question in France, where do you go? Maybe in telco. The reason is that some countries like France, South Korea, Germany, etc. did not have a big tech sector. Also very little start up culture. But they understood the importance of the tech sector and they did what they could to unblock it by breaking the local mafia. So, the end result is low cost internet. It did only marginally help the creation of a tech sector, but that is what they could do.