The electric grid was built on subsidized money and is regulated as a natural monopoly. A large part of that grid is made up of utility poles. If you want to

The electric grid was built on subsidized money and is regulated as a natural monopoly. A large part of that grid is made up of utility poles. If you want to be a cable provider or ISP, the easiest way is to put your lines on those utility poles. They are already carrying power lines to people's homes any way. Run some cables and you can avoid the extremely expensive proposition of building secondary infrastructure to support more cables running to houses. When the local municipalities set up agreements with the cable providers, a part of that agreement states nobody else can be on the utility pole. This is why there is a monopoly. If cities are really fed up with pricey internet, they need to re-evaluate these agreements they've made with the all the incumbents.