There's only so much you can do with last-mile lines. There is no known way to get data to your house faster and with more bandwidth than using light. There is

There's only so much you can do with last-mile lines. There is no known way to get data to your house faster and with more bandwidth than using light. There is nothing that travels faster than light in a vacuum. The only enhancement I can think of is propagation for ever-higher frequencies (UV, X-Ray, etc), allowing more bandwidth. But realistically node hardware improvements regularly boost the performance of the same fiber cable, much like how cable modems are still improving using the same RG-6 from the 60's. (RG-6 is old, but it is still very good- physics still works just the same) Last-mile power/sewage/data/etc hasn't changed much because it is fundamental. Water travels in pipes. Sewage also travels in pipes. The only reason data changed (POTS to cable/fiber) is because data was originally piggybacked on a network never designed for it. One day we might do fiber optics with gamma rays, or invent wormhole communication, but I'm prepared to invest in plain-old visible-light fiber optics for now. ------------ As for water distribution in general (not last-mile), that's a problem with water rights, not water companies. It's a legal nightmare that has nothing to do with public vs. private utilities.