Fiber. The coming tech revolution – and why america might miss it *

Fiber

The world of fiber optic connections reaching neighborhoods, homes, and businesses will represent as great a change from what came before as the advent of electricity. The virtually unlimited amounts of data we’ll be able

to send and receive through fiber optic connections will enable a degree of virtual presence that will radically transform health care, education, urban administration and services, agriculture, retail sales, and offices. Yet

all of those transformations will pale compared with the innovations and new industries that we can’t even imagine today. In a fascinating account combining policy expertise and compelling on-the-ground reporting, Susan

Crawford reveals how the giant corporations that control cable and internet access in the United States use their tremendous lobbying power to tilt the playing field against competition, holding back the infrastructur

e improvements necessary for the country to move forward. And she shows how a few cities and towns are fighting monopoly power to bring the next technological revolution to their communities.

Contents

Acknowledgments ix

1. The Fiber Future
2. Transmitting Light
3. Why U. S. Internet Access Is Awful
4. Community Stories 67
5. Sustaining Economic Growth
6. Education
7. Health
8. Inequality and Fiber
9. Lessons from American Communities
10. What Stands in the Way?
11. The Need for Federal Policy

Notes 215 Index

AUTORA: SUSAN CRAWFORD