The federal effort to expand internet access to every U.S. home has taken a major step forward with the announcement of $930 million in grants to shore up connections in dozens of places where significant connectivity gaps persist. Those places include remote parts of Alaska and rural Texas. The so-called middle mile grants are intended to trigger the laying of 12,000 miles of fiber through 35 states and Puerto Rico. The middle mile is the midsection of the infrastructure necessary to enable internet access, composed of high-capacity lines carrying lots of data quickly. The expansion is among several initiatives pushed through Congress by President Joe Biden’s administration to expand high-speed internet connectivity.
Rural broadband access is abysmal. We moved from a large suburb to a rural area in 2020, and trying to get reliable high-speed internet has been the biggest struggle of all.
Fixed wireless has been a godsend if it’s around you. I’m rural but sitting one airborne hop from backbone fiber. I can vouch its the same tech as the futures trades ride downtown.
In IL there’s a few providers that spun up in the wake of a tornado. Its not competitive with what I could get in the suburbs, but its better by far than the wireline out here.
This is not universal, though. For example I live in the sticks and am posting this from AT&T Fiber, 2.5G/2.5G
True. There are localized pockets, but they’re not common. I’m super jealous, though! :-)