Why Rural Americans Keep Waiting for Fast Internet, Despite Billions Spent

The U.S. government has spent billions of dollars on several rounds of programs to upgrade internet speeds in rural areas over the past decade. Despite those efforts, many residents are still stuck with service that isn’t fast enough to do video calls or stream movies—speeds that most take for granted.

Many communities have been targeted for broadband upgrades at least twice already, but flaws in the programs’ design have left residents wanting.