In the late 90's I used to envy your connectivity in the states, Cable and ADSL was a wet dream for most wanna-be geeks in the UK. I honestly don't understand the full situation, but after everything I've read I think the FCC could take lessons from the UK and other EU models.
Since OFCOM (the UK's equivalent of the FCC) forced BT to separate infrastructure and customer operations, and allow competitors access to that infrastructure, it has meant other ISPs could compete and even install their own equipment in the BT exchanges, which was a driving factor for ADSL2+, and now they're fairly well advanced in rolling out VDSL/FTTC (Ironically, they missed my f*cking street!).
It still suck a$$ compared to some of the connectivity you hear about in Asia.. but thats life!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
