Well I hate to burst your bubble but its already happening in Alabama. It will likely be awhile before you hear about it. Likely after its too late and federal funding is allocated elsewhere...
I hope whatever they do it does not involve giving telecoms more money. The last time the government gave them money they didn’t make the promised improvements and the government didn’t force the issue. Basically pocketed the money.
Telecoms suck and need to be taken out of the equation, IMO. Biden needs to put a pro-net neutrality person in charge of the FCC. The geographical monopolies need to be broken up and free competition allowed everywhere. Telecoms should be banned from signing exclusivity deals with municipalities. All municipalities should be allowed to build their own networks without interference from telecoms. Data caps should be illegal, they do nothing to improve network reliability or speeds.
5G is not the answer. There are 2 kinds of 5G and rural areas will not benefit from either one. The most common form of 5G is no faster or stronger then 4G, it’s just marketing. If a rural area doesn’t get 4G now, they want get this form of 5G. The less common 5G (mmWave) is supper fast but requires you to be within 600 yards of the tower with clear line of sight. It doesn’t penetrate buildings and even rain blocks the signal. That form willing only ever be available to a very, very small amount of people, it’s a pipe dream.
What the government should do is start backing companies like Space X with their Starlink network. They need to back companies that are really trying to innovate and provide the world with affordable, reliable internet. Folks who are participating in the Starlink beta, in the rural northwest of the country, are reporting speeds of 100-150 Mbps download and 50+ upload. This is the answer, not Charter, AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, etc. Telecoms have proven that they can’t be trusted and they need to be left in the dust to die.
Rant over, death to traditional telecoms!