<story><title>Dems pitch $100B broadband plan</title><url>https://www.majoritywhip.gov/?press=clyburn-rural-broadband-task-force-and-house-democrats-introduce-accessible-affordable-internet-for-all-act</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>darwinwhy</author><text>Like it or not, certain parts of the US are too rural&amp;#x2F;poor to justify even monopolists expanding internet service there. This will incentivize them to build in those areas.</text></item><item><author>kevin_thibedeau</author><text>&amp;gt;  providing a $50 monthly discount on plans for low-income consumers&lt;p&gt;This only serves to support the inflated pricing of the monopolists.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>danShumway</author><text>We already have incentivized them. They take the money, promise to build, and then just don&amp;#x27;t. They know that neither the FCC nor any of the state&amp;#x2F;local governments have any will right now to punish them for not following through on their commitments.&lt;p&gt;At this point, it would be more efficient to just give the money to municipalities directly and just tell them to build their own infrastructure.&lt;p&gt;Government incentives for commercial companies aren&amp;#x27;t always bad, but in this case I think they&amp;#x27;re really clearly not working, and we&amp;#x27;re just shoveling more money into that hole.</text></comment>
<story><title>Dems pitch $100B broadband plan</title><url>https://www.majoritywhip.gov/?press=clyburn-rural-broadband-task-force-and-house-democrats-introduce-accessible-affordable-internet-for-all-act</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>darwinwhy</author><text>Like it or not, certain parts of the US are too rural&amp;#x2F;poor to justify even monopolists expanding internet service there. This will incentivize them to build in those areas.</text></item><item><author>kevin_thibedeau</author><text>&amp;gt;  providing a $50 monthly discount on plans for low-income consumers&lt;p&gt;This only serves to support the inflated pricing of the monopolists.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>lotsofpulp</author><text>Why doesn’t the government just build it?  They do it with sewer lines, power lines, gas lines, water lines, but a little fiber is too much?</text></comment>