The stupid thing is NOBODY NEEDS TO BUILD A NETWORK. The "Internet backbone" was built, at inordinate expense, during the Clinton administration and we're nowhere near tapping its potential. High speed connectivity is all about the "last mile problem" wherein your house is not directly on the trunk, it's a mile down the street, and someone needs to run that fiber. You'd think a telecom company would be ALL OVER that shit. They've got the trucks. They've got the fiber. They're literally in a position of building a toll bridge that gets you over the slough so you can climb onto the dock and ride a hovercraft across the ocean. The fact that Google decided to get into the "pulling cable" industry says a lot about just how ridiculously calcified the industry truly is.
Personally, I like my rates being increased arbitrarily every six months for no better service than I was receiving with absolutely no recourse. I'm not sure that it even could be improved upon, as it's already damn near perfect. Not a month goes by where I don't think, "Gee, I love Comcast's cable speed, not to mention their 5 star customer service, but you know what would be really great is if instead of $60/mo I could pay $75. Sigh, maybe one day."