In most of the world the internet is a tool. It is a tool for banking, getting the news that TV, Newspaper and Radio media do not publish. It is a tool for reaching out to each other and spreading the word of struggles and politics and it is an avenue to educate the populace. They need and demand connectivity and they get it from the socially minded ISP regulators that also want the speed and quality to be superior.
In the US, the Internet is a toy. We play phone games, and games of conquest that consume a great deal of bandwidth. We watch our movies as streaming content rather than having to pick up a DVD or wait to have it delivered in the US Mail. Much of the content that is pushed through the Internet pipelines is entertainment. While there are some financial transactions being made, the ISP providers have little incentive to provide any greater bandwidth and speed than is necessary to meet the low expectation of the American consumer.
US Telecomm companies are first and foremost money pumps. They seek to increase subscription levels and manage churn over quality and speed. They seek to serve only the markets that are profitable such as urban locations in our cities. Rural areas just don't meet their profit-making expectations and are summarily dismissed as a service area. They invest only as much capital at it takes to get an area serviced at the minimum level accepted by the consumer. when there is so little real competition, the customer has little choice than to accept the mediocre service and complain to each other.
