• db2@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    In the early 2000s iirc they were given billions to build out rural broadband. They kept it. Rural broadband still doesn’t exist to speak of.

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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      2 months ago

      These bills have been passed multiple times over the last couple decades and the result is always the same. In places like NY, they claimed to have run fiber to millions of homes but they never actually connected it to any of these homes, it just runs along under the street out in front of them, therefore they can claim these homes are “covered by fiber.”

      • db2@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        And the fuckers want ten grand from the homeowner to jack it in. The drop won’t even be owned by the homeowner afterward either. It’s literally criminal.

      • BallsandBayonets@lemmings.world
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        2 months ago

        Because of the FCC’s hilariously out of date definition, many places have theoretical broadband access (one 10mb pipe shared amongst dozens of households).

    • seaQueue@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yup, they took the 90s era broadband grants and just pocketed them because they knew that the Bush era FCC wouldn’t pursue the matter.

      • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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        2 months ago

        because they knew that the Bush era FCC wouldn’t pursue the matter.

        There’s been many FCC’s since then that could have and should have enforced. Both parties have been sucking on this front… spending money in ways that only benefit mega-corps with no ability to punish those same corps.

        • Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Jessica Rosenworcel is handing out money right now. I saw her speak in 2023 and she was quite enthusiastic about all the money they were handing out. I looked at the structure of it and its the same as what they were doing during Bush’s and Obama’s administrations. Its a farce and it will just pad the bottom line of the major telcos without building one more mile of physical plant. Just like all the other times. Until some type of limit on payment is implemented similar to erate which is now under attack nothing will ever happen other than the money will disappear.

    • Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      And in the late 2000’s. And again a few years later. And as of last year they, the FCC is once again throwing money at them without any real oversight. I worked for a ISP in 2010 and we couldn’t get any of the money because a bank had first lean on the company USDA demanded that before any money could be approved. AT&T got money for our area and their footprint shrank the next year when they cut off dial-up customers in the area.

    • SirDerpy@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      We did the same for urban fiber. It’s never materialized, either. And, the USDA has been providing funding and loans for rural broadband for quite awhile.

      • sunzu@kbin.run
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        2 months ago

        American taxpayer is always paying for major CapEx for most industries then turn around and price gouge us.

        Most amercians see to be fine with it since they live in a free market economy where private sector funds investment.

        • SirDerpy@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          free market economy where private sector funds investment

          If that’s how it actually worked we might accept it. But, today there’s little distinction between public and private: Corporations own our government.

      • tal@lemmy.today
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        2 months ago

        I don’t think that the United States Department of Agriculture is involved in subsidizing urban fiber.

        • SirDerpy@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Yeah. That’s wasn’t very clear. The USDA has been funding and providing loans for rural broadband. About $1b, IIRC.

          Thanks for the pointing that out.

      • db2@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        It’s almost like the foxes are running the hen house, as the old saying goes.