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Do realize Apple also has over $100b of debt and Google about $4b.

"would raise the company’s adjusted debt to more than $100bn."

https://www.ft.com/content/d0293136-e98b-11e6-893c-082c54a7f...

I wouldn't propose any single company pay that cost out of pocket up front. The point is that $140 in private infrastructure isn't as big of a number as people think. What's holding it back is NOT raising capital.

Verizon spends upwards of 10 billion a year on infrastructure. They might spend over a 100 billion in the next 10 years all by themselves. Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint combined will spend god knows how much.

There are many roadblocks to widespread fiber. Capital and profit are not among them.

One such roadblock apparently being that VZ is getting good return on its wireless spend, but putting that money into fiber would not generate the returns.

The private market is working as it should: not plowing money into things that don't have the ROI. The roadblock to fiber is that it is a boondoggle only government would like.

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