Telecom act of 1996 paid them to build fiber but they set the speed limits low enough that they could satisfy it with DSL.
There’s new DSL tech that’s ~100mbps, so this is that technique again.
The fatal flaw in 1996, like today, is not pushing for gigabit, and is one of the major reasons the US is a declining global power. Faster internet access is core infrastructure for participation in the 21st century.
In fact, the text of the act doesn't mention fiber -- which part involves paying companies to build fiber? -- and one part is very explicit in not referring to a specific form of technology.
> The term `advanced telecommunications capability' is defined, without
regard to any transmission media or technology, as high-speed,
switched, broadband telecommunications capability that enables
users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data,
graphics, and video telecommunications using any technology.
In fact, for a simple sanity-check on the factualness of your statement, we need just one question: If FedGov paid companies to build fiber -- which companies, and how much did it pay each of them?
Completely based on the lens through which you are viewing it. I myself am American and have seen the quality of life for the average citizen declining in my life time. If I wasn't a part of the new middle class provided by technology, my children would have a worse life than me, combine that with the recidivism displayed by our judiciary recently and some could definitely argue we are declining. But with a user name like that, you already know all that. You might say our gdp and other metrics still show us as a giant on the world stage, I'm sure there are other metrics we can crow about, Yet it feels like little of that is trickling down to our citizens.
