Spending on infrastructure has fallen in real terms in America

It is easy to take internet connectivity for granted these days. But when stringing up fibre-optic cable in the woods of Vermont, not much comes easily. Some homes are a mile back from the road, requiring thousands of dollars and much tree-pruning to link them to the network. In remote areas new poles are needed to replace ones that date back to the introduction of electricity. The wait for these can run to two years. The local broadband group responsible for Vermont’s north-east corner brought high-speed internet access to about 2,500 homes in 2023. If not for the delays, it could have reached 7,000.