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Rural Broadband to Replace POTS As Beneficiary of US Gov't Subsidies
IDG reports that "The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has voted to overhaul a decades-old system of telephone subsidies in rural areas, with the funding refocused on broadband deployment. The FCC's vote Thursday would transition the Universal Service Fund's (USF's) high-cost program, now subsidizing voice service, to a new Connect America Fund focused on broadband deployment to areas that don't yet have service. The FCC will cap the broadband fund at $4.5 billion a year, the current budget of the USF high-cost program, funded by a tax on telephone bills." That cap, says Reuters, is "the first budget constraint ever imposed on the program."
Why are hospital emergency rooms supposed to provide everybody with care instead of turning away patients who cannot pay?
Why isn't society paying for the food delivery system? Food is far more important than medical care or the internet. The public doesn't invest in everything that we think is necessary.
Are you familiar with the plot of the film John Q, about someone who used crime to obtain health care?
Nope. But I see from Wikipedia's plot description that it's a typical, totally contrived propaganda movie.
Grandparent is willing to pay for parts and labor to have them installed, but the carriers want to add a surcharge of tens of thousands of dollars (search post for "one new car").
Then the problem is that your grandparents aren't willing to pay for internet service which is more than just "parts and labor". I see also that you're thinking of putting in a wireless bridge. Do society a favor and just put that in rather than becoming another burden on society.