Flip the switch

In fact, it could be a lot faster immediately, at very little effort or cost. A new state of the art network of fiber optic cables has been installed connecting some 350 central offices around the country (where international capacity is delivered before it reaches the end users), to many heavy users — such as hospitals, universities and businesses. This network is actually designed to serve all of the country, down to the last hovel. This fiber optic backbone, however, is turned off. That means the fiber is in the ground, connected to the various modems, routers and switches, and ready to go. But there is currently no data traversing it. The “switch” — or more accurately series of devices in the central offices — has not been turned on. This comes in spite of internet speeds being increasingly cited as a factor of economic growth. In low and middle