I think the most feasible solution is municipal internet, where the city owns the fiber lines and essentially runs it like a non profit. Good cities that do this don’t see it as a profit center; they see it as providing a service to their residents.
Palo Alto California is doing this. They’re modernizing their electricity grid, so they’re also running fiber at the same time as running the new electrical lines. Electricity in Palo Alto is run by the city, and as a result, electricity there is less than 1/3 of the price of electricity with PG&E, the investor-owned utility company that supplies most of Northern California.
More community run mesh networks
That’s kinda what settlement-free peering at an IX (internet exchange) is. Multiple networks agree to connect to each other for free. Of course, the networks are usually large ones, so that kinda goes against your other points.
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 weeks ago
It’s one of those strong network effect things where nationalisation makes the most sense, for sure.