Actually I didn't, but I admit I didn't do it justice. I sort of skimmed/half read it as I was partially studying for a class, and part bumming around the net.

~AJ

Interesting article, which brings up a time honored-question.... to what ends should the government invest public money (your tax dollars) in national projects and infrastructure?

Eisenhower used tax dollars to build much of the U.S highway system. In South Korea, the government embarked on a multi-year plan that cost billions of dollars to essentially run fiber to most of the country. Today, they benefit from some of the best internet speeds and access in the world.

With that said, the cost and benefits from mega projects depend on an incredible number of factors, ranging from how corrupt the politicians in office are to public sentiment on the street. Also, geography plays a HUGE role in stuff like this. Nations that have the best internet speeds and access in the world usually tend to have a high concentration of population- lots of people packed into a relatively small space. This is easier to stomach and eat the cost of a huge network build because the government and various ISP's do the math and figure out that even if they spend X billion dollars, they should be able to get a return on their investment within a couple of years (or even a couple of months if the density is high enough) Here in Canada, some fiber networks can take up to 10 years to get a return on investment simply because the population density is incredibly low compared to the distance and geography the network spans.... so the result is usually a compromise between big business and government.

Big business doesn't want to build the network because they'd be incurring a large debt that wouldn't even come close to getting paid off from the additional revenue from the build. But government needs to ensure that folks are still living in the modern age and have a decent quality of life. So, government largely pays big business to build the network BUT there are many strings attached- the ISP doesn't just run to the hills with a big bag of public geet. Once the network is built, the gov. mandates that the ISP has to also allow other ISP's to use it for a pre-determined cost and so on. Also, if the ISP offers crappy service, the government will simply give the next big project to a rival ISP and so it goes.

Eisenhower built the US highway system as a military necessity. He saw how efficiently the Germans (and later the Allies) were able to get men and materials to the front on the Autobahn. It just so happens to benefit citizens as well, even those that don't drive (because they still consume). The Internet doesn't benefit all (unless quick porn and shopping are necessities) yet, 20 years after it's wide spread availability in the US. Highway benefits were immediate.