The United States is a divided nation, one expressed in all-too-many ways as evident by the 2020 presidential election and the failed January 6^th insurrection. Unfortunately, one of its most telling expressions is the digital divide, in which more well-to-do urban and suburban locals get superior if over-priced telecom services while whole swaths of urban and rural areas are over-charged for inferior services.

The digital divide has been compounded by the twin crises of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing economic recession. Its effects are graphically evident in New York City along with other large urban centers.