The US is falling behind in deploying fiber-optic networks, and it could make inequality here even worse
Google and other broadband providers offer access to the internet via fiber-optic connections to only a small fraction of US homes.The biggest tech problem facing the US is that it doesn't have universal access to super-fast fiber-optic internet connections, according to Susan Crawford, a telecommunication expert and professor at Harvard Law School.
If you ask Susan Crawford, the biggest tech problem facing the US has nothing to do with election interference or privacy or smartphone-addicted teens or the market dominance of the likes of Facebook, Google, and Amazon. Access to fiber-optic internet connections is"the most fundamental tech issue," Crawford said, likening it to electrification."This is really a story," she continued,"about economic growth and social justice."Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution — and Why America Might Miss It
Fiber lines can also last decades with little need for maintenance. They can be upgraded easily; to give them more capacity, operators just have to swap out the electronics that transmit the signals. They're immune to the kinds of interference that can thwart copper lines; signals sent over them can travel for miles and miles without needing any kind of boost.
Conversely, without universal access to fiber lines, the problems the country faces with inequality of income and opportunity and the resulting political polarization are likely to only get worse, she argues in her book. So much of American life — applying for jobs, say, or interacting with government agencies — already requires an internet connection. In the future, those without a fiber connection could be left even further behind.
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