[jdsnape]

That's because the Ofcom regulation of BT has lead to one of the world's most competitive broadband/telecoms industry

In other countries, e.g. the US, there tends to be one Telco per region which both owns the infrastructure and provides service.

[ZenPro]

I had no idea the infrastructure in the US was so prohibitive. Thanks for the insight.

I have upvoted because the comment deserved it not because the US is getting telecommunicationsly-screwed.

[maxerickson]

In areas where cable companies had much build out, there is usually at least 2 choices (the incumbent cable player + the incumbent telco). In lots of areas, there will be more than 2 big players (you can pretty much predict this based on how wealthy the area is).

More remote areas are probably gaining high speed wireless faster than they are gaining other infrastructure. It's expensive, slower and has more limitations, but it compares pretty favorably to dial up, which may be the existing option.