I do not live in the USA. What I am told by my colleagues who do, is that the post bell regional breakup created monopolies by location in order to prevent national dominance but give each region a reliable income in a time of voice call logistics. Fast forward to the emergence of fiber as a viable technology: either you live in a location serviced by a telco who is willing to re-engineer to fiber or you don't. Verizon exemplifies the quandary, it's a huge cost, they have to carve out special data models for cable companies to stop them refusing to drop coax, it's impossible to charge sanely, their shares tank. I am sure there are happy customers but there is no clear equality of service. It's a patchwork minefield.