TELECOMS
“ affect relatively new sectors such as telecommunications and broadband access .”
Bawtree-Jobson adds that the situation in the US is worsened by the country ’ s broadband industry model , in which ISPs both own and operate the country ’ s network infrastructure . “ Unlike in most European countries , US citizens who live outside major urban areas can normally rely on only one ISP , the one that owns and operates the network infrastructure in their area ,” he explains . Default monopolies in remote , economically deprived , or nonwhite areas - he adds - allow corporations to “ dictate prices and deprive consumers of choice .”
The lower ROI companies receive from less densely populated or lower income areas leads ISPs - with no
40 % of people without access to the internet motivation beyond revenue generation - to disinvest in those areas , stranding more people on the wrong side of a widening connectivity gap , while urban and affluent areas receive high-band 5G and full fibre infrastructure .
In the UK , the divide is more starkly drawn between rural and urban populations , although Kevin Hasley , CEO of independent benchmarking firm RootMetrics , notes that similar logic applies . “ Mobile operators typically deploy and optimise their networks first and foremost
14 % of UK properties have access to full-fibre broadband mobile-magazine . com 45