AT&T has probably done more to stall the expansion of affordable, broadband (and competition) than any company in existence.

Its reward: a published piece in Politico where a monopoly gives advice on how to fix a problem it helped create: https://www.politico.com/news/agenda/2020/09/08/a-game-plan-to-finally-connect-every-american-409171?mc_cid=6975b6b373&mc_eid=eb527a594e

Well gosh, you probably shouldn't have lobbied/written laws in more than a dozen states hamstringing towns and cities from building creative broadband alternatives then, huh?

Well gosh, you probably shouldn't have lobbied repeatedly against better broadband maps and the sharing of data in a bid to obscure the lack of U.S. broadband competition then, huh?

Well gosh, I guess you shouldn't have under-invested in fiber for thirty years, or taken $42 billion in Trump tax cuts only to fire 41,000 employees and trim CAPEX by $3 billion then, huh?

What's AT&T up to? It knows the public anger during COVID-19 is going to drive legislative fixes to shore up broadband, and they'd prefer that legislation doesn't do things like improve overall competition and crack down on monopolization (the real cause of the digital divide)

Want to fix U.S. broadband? Want to keep kids from having to squat outside of Taco Bell to get online for class?

Tackle corruption. Fix monopolization. Fire politicians that prioritize the needs of monopolies over the public. Kill protectionist state laws blocking competition.

Oh, and stop letting monopolies with 100 year track records of documented predatory behavior dictate the country's broadband policy agenda.

Stop letting them write state and federal law while you're at it.

As I wrote last week, monopolization and corruption (not geography or lack of funding) is the reason U.S. broadband is aggressively mediocre.

Until policy makers and the media can clearly acknowledge that, the problem isn't getting fixed. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200902/08350945227/america-needs-to-stop-pretending-broadband-digital-divide-isnt-direct-result-corruption.shtml