This is it exactly. I've got clients I work with in two federally recognized under-served areas that ISPs have gotten government grants for supporting.
And yet, when you try and talk to the ISP about problems with the 2.5-down-.4-up DSL line they provide their literal reply is "You're lucky you have a dialtone."
This is at a location 1.7 miles down the road from a school that has gigabit fiber.
The existing programs are a joke. Nothing short of competition is going to get the ISPs to fix their problems. Centurylink has lost about 7k/month on customers switching to StarLink just on this one road. Maybe someday they'll consider fiber, but until then Starlink is a godsend.
Competition doesn't work, ISPs only care about high-profit dense areas. I bet that they are happy about services like Starlink because regulators are less likely to force them to provide service in remote areas because an alternative exists.
Believe me, I've thought about it. Unfortunately it's a county-owned road.
The local power co-op is considering the idea of considering burying the powerlines, so I'm keeping a close eye on that. I wish I could get them interested in the idea of adding fiber internet to their services, but I'm told they can't do it anywhere they have above-ground power because of an agreement stating that CenturyLink gets to be the only ISP on the poles.
And yet, when you try and talk to the ISP about problems with the 2.5-down-.4-up DSL line they provide their literal reply is "You're lucky you have a dialtone."
This is at a location 1.7 miles down the road from a school that has gigabit fiber.
The existing programs are a joke. Nothing short of competition is going to get the ISPs to fix their problems. Centurylink has lost about 7k/month on customers switching to StarLink just on this one road. Maybe someday they'll consider fiber, but until then Starlink is a godsend.