DSL providers are forced to let resellers (also known as competitors) use their networks. Cable providers get to capture the speed increases for themselves.
This is why people were afraid of the "let one company build the network, but everyone else gets to compete on it" plans. It might make all the networks look like the DSL networks.
And this meme that Internet speeds are staying flat is just plain wrong. Akamai's state of the internet report consistently shows average speeds increasing year-over-year in nearly every state in the US. ("Vermont was the only state across the
whole country to see a year-over-year decline in its average
connection speed—the cause of this decline has been discussed
in prior issues of the report.") For peak speeds, only Vermont and Oklahoma saw year-over-year losses.
This is why people were afraid of the "let one company build the network, but everyone else gets to compete on it" plans. It might make all the networks look like the DSL networks.
And this meme that Internet speeds are staying flat is just plain wrong. Akamai's state of the internet report consistently shows average speeds increasing year-over-year in nearly every state in the US. ("Vermont was the only state across the whole country to see a year-over-year decline in its average connection speed—the cause of this decline has been discussed in prior issues of the report.") For peak speeds, only Vermont and Oklahoma saw year-over-year losses.