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by josh2600 1438 days ago
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.
2 comments
SamReidHughes 1438 days ago
> Telecom act of 1996 paid them to build fiber

Do you have a factual basis for such a statement? Here is the text of the act.

https://transition.fcc.gov/Reports/tcom1996.txt

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?

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politician 1438 days ago
The US is not a declining global power.
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jdhendrickson 1438 days ago
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.
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jl6 1438 days ago
What year would you suggest time-travelling back to in order to enjoy a higher quality of life?
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