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A comment on People Had to Be Convinced of the Usefulness of Electricity. Parent comment

Re:People Had to Be Convinced of the Usefulness of Electricity by nonethewiser on Sunday March 19, 2023 @01:26PM (#35221343)
But that proves my point. There was no “new deal” that got us to 75% broadband coverage. 75% is clearly way better than 11% therefore not a valid parallel.
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Re:People Had to Be Convinced of the Usefulness of Electricity by paulryanrogers on Sunday March 19, 2023 @01:50PM (#35221628)
75% broadband coverage is a generous interpretation, especially as the floor of what is broad has grown. 25MB down, 5MB up isn't actually that broad or useful as 4K TVs and multiple simultaneous video calls become the norm.
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Re:People Had to Be Convinced of the Usefulness of Electricity by zamnos on Sunday March 19, 2023 @02:06PM (#35221782)
There absolutely has been a ton of government money funneled to, basically Verizon and Comcast shareholders to try and provide rural Internet service via the Telecomms Act of 1996 along with everything else that came after that. That the government hasn't been getting good value for its money, and 75%, and at only 25 Mbit, compared to 97% for electricity is a whole other topic.
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Re:People Had to Be Convinced of the Usefulness of Electricity by mauvehaus on Sunday March 19, 2023 @02:13PM (#35221840)
Arguably, having broadband now is more important than having electricity then. The network effects of nearly everyone having broadband are reducing access to offline alternatives (e.g. bank branches closing), whereas anything you can do with electricity can likely be done without electricity or any additional infrastructure beyond what's on the farm.
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Re:People Had to Be Convinced of the Usefulness of Electricity by photochemsyn on Sunday March 19, 2023 @02:22PM (#35221935)
https://www.usda.gov/broadband

> "USDA has been investing in rural telecommunications infrastructure for decades. Hundreds of millions of dollars are annually available in the RUS programs both by loans and grants all to support modern broadband e-Connectivity in rural communities."

> "In 2018, USDA introduced the ReConnect Program, which has invested over $1 billion to date to expand high-speed broadband infrastructure in unserved rural areas and tribal lands."

We don't let shady private corporations squat on the roads and freeways and charge tolls to anyone who wants to drive on them, why should we allow such behavior on the internet trunk fiber optic cables either - or on the copper/aluminum electricity grid, for that matter?

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