The $53,000 Connection: The High Cost of High-Speed Internet for Everyone
“…Officials doling out billions of dollars for broadband in rural America are struggling to decide when a new hookup costs too much.
Nebraska’s Winnebago Tribe has long been stuck with sluggish internet service. The federal government plans to fix that by crisscrossing the reservation with fiber-optic cable—at an average cost of $53,000 for each household and workplace connected.
That amount exceeds the assessed value of some of the homes getting hookups, property records show. While most connections will cost far less, the expense to reach some remote communities has triggered concerns over the ultimate price tag for ensuring every rural home, business, school and workplace in America has the same internet that city dwellers enjoy…”
And the understatement of the week:
“The problem is, money is not infinite”