Free American broadband!

Salon.com has an article about why broadband in the U.S. is expensive and slow, and why geographic coverage is sometimes poor. To sum it up in three words: bad government policy (including capitulation to the corporate desire for monopoly). I couldn't have explained the issue better myself, so I highly recommend it, despite the ad which non-subscribers must tolerate.

...across the nation, the cable and telecom companies, armed with powerful lobbyists and coin-operated "experts" are quietly working the halls of state legislatures and Congress in a concerted effort to kill off Community Internet. Over the past several years, 14 states enacted laws that ban or place limits on municipalities from building Community Internet projects. - Salon article

The situation is better in Canada, although increased competition or community internet might be beneficial here, too.