AT&T promises massive broadband investment if Trump gives it tax breaks

[Guest Chris Mills]

There's a tired old trick for internet service providers that want a tax break to continue gouging customers. The ISP will make some vague promise of future broadband investment, in return for immediate tax breaks or approval of an industry deal. On the surface, it sounds good: delivering broadband to rural areas is often uneconomic, so government often wants to cut a deal with private industry to deliver it.

 

But the problem is that internet providers seem to have a really tricky time keeping to their promises, and unexpected roadblocks just happen to always spring up right around the time the investment is meant to happen.

 

That's why AT&T's promise to President Trump that it ill invest $22 billion in new infrastructure -- in return for immediate tax cuts -- is so terribly worrying.

 

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Via BRG - Boy Genius Report