America mired in telecom infrastructure incrementalism due to misaligned incentives, lack of commitment and lowered expectations

Three decades into the 21st century and a digital socio-economy, the United States remains unlikely to timely modernize its legacy copper telephone lines that reach nearly every American doorstep to fiber to the premises (FTTP). Instead of world class advanced telecommunications infrastructure, the nation is mired in incrementalism amid a patchwork of isolated pockets of fiber connecting only a third of all U.S homes. The nation will likely remain that way for the foreseeable barring a major change in public policy.

These are the root causes:

1. The issue is defined by its primary symptom – insufficient “broadband” bandwidth – instead of the lack of FTTP infrastructure that constrains bandwidth.
   
   
2. Overreliance on vertically integrated, investor-owned providers lacking both incentive and adequate resources to build out FTTP. They lack incentive because there is no regulatory requirement like that for legacy voice telephone service to provide service to customers requesting it. Internet protocol-based telecommunications are not regulated as a common carrier utility but rather an elective information service like a cable TV package. They lack capital expansion funds because their shareholders are averse to spending them and expect an ongoing stream of high earnings and dividends. They also lack the ability to finance new infrastructure due to balance sheets already overburdened with debt.
   
   
3. Localities have incentive to build fiber to serve their residents and promote economic development. But they lack resources to do so and the ability to raise tax dollars to finance its construction due to tax resistance/exhaustion. Consequently, some planning is done but most don’t proceed or are undertaken as limited scope "pilot projects." Federal and state governments reinforce limited local infrastructure by awarding grants for builds in "unserved" and "underserved" areas as determined by advertised throughput claims of commercial providers. (See #1).
   
   
4. Finally, lowered expectations of progress, even on the part of those who advocate for it. The fatalistic thinking is significant progress on infrastructure cannot be had because large vertically integrated telephone and cable companies determine telecom policy and favor a conservative approach due to #2. Progressives settle for limited local builds as small victories, further locking in incrementalism.