[WarOnPrivacy]

> This is cool, but the government wouldn't be keen on updating the cables, would they?

They charge ISPs for use of the infrastructure and that funds maintenance and upgrades. For the sort of core upgrades that occur every few decades, they can do a bond referendum to cover shortfalls.

It's the same setup our private infra does here. They own the fiber in the ground and ISPs pay then to sell services.

It can be harder for a private infra company to get in the ground because they're limited to municipalities that aren't captured by telecom/ISP lobbying orgs - but still have a dense enough population.