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Comment by b0o | Hacker News Reader

Could you explain in further detail?

I have a friend who is in a similar situation. 10 years ago he was being charged $2500 for a line from a major street to his place last year he got another quote and they're asking for $15k. He's just using cell data right now as its simply cheaper than dishing out 15k for a line and then having to be locked into a $150-$250/month internet plan.

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They're called cable franchise agreements. Google found this example[1] with the provider in this case (Comcast) being required to extend service to any area with a minimum of 30 dwellings per cable mile. You should be able to get a copy of the franchise agreement between the municipality and provider.

They're typically for cable companies but they may apply to "fiber" providers as well. Not sure about that.

[1]https://www.ccgov.org/home/showpublisheddocument/3328/635960...

I did find my city's agreement by querying "cable franchise agreement $ISP $CITY" and was led to a PDF. There is a clause about "Standard Installation" within 125 ft being requirement, but I can't find anything about beyond that; which leads me to think they have reign to charge what they want.

Also requires something about 25 residences per cable-mile, which we definitely would have here. The public school 2 blocks from me also has a franchise-agreement for dedicated fiber connection.

This is what I'm doing -- hotspotting with a thankfully-strong signal is decent enough but... still brutal!

ugh yes. It's horrid. They're older but they want to watch netflix and modernize and stuff. But it's brutal to have to shell out that money per month.

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