It’s Time to Fix the Pitifully Slow, Expensive Internet Access in the US

[Commentary] Bottom line: For $30 a month, we must be able to provide high-speed internet access to every American.

This fiber connection service should include voice, data, and basic broadcast channels at speeds that meet global standards. It’s embarrassing that one of the most innovative nations in the world can’t do this. And if private providers don’t want to do it, local and federal government needs to undertake this infrastructure investment. We need to build fiber rings around every U.S. town and city. Yet we’re moving in the opposite direction. Both Verizon and AT&T have refused to take subsidies from the Federal Communications Commission aimed at ensuring rural service. The reason? They’re worried about regulatory oversight that might follow from taking the money, and they’d rather focus on wireless. More troubling, though, is the perspective – espoused by the giant telecommunications companies – that it’s “our wires, our rules”.