My brother in-law said to me as we prepared for an 8 hour cross-Canada journey. “Why not just use your smartphone?” I said a cheeky “You will see” but felt guilty and proceeded to explain that reality does not match expectations. That is, most rural areas are little connected… if at all. During that journey we relied exclusively on the paper maps and were without cell phone service for at least 3 hours of that journey.
The fact of the matter is, our expectation is that connectivity to the Internet is a utility. But it is not formally assigned this distinction by our governments and the corresponding policy. So the delivery of the internet, or broadband as it is more truly called, is not up to par. It’s not that we don’t have the technology, or the money, it’s that the game is not setup to win.
Here are two fun stories of rural broadband challenges that you probably never thought of from the UK (the problem is a global issue):
Boaters left high and dry in broadband rollout?
https://www.cable.co.uk/news/boaters-left-high-and-dry-in-broadband-rollout-700000139/
Rural broadband: Microwave radio link brings fast connection to remote village