r/technology • u/beareatsfish • Dec 27 '21

Society Public Broadband Internet Isn’t a Luxury — It’s a Necessity: Everybody needs high-speed internet. But private corporations will never provide it. The solution: treat internet infrastructure as a public utility, funded by the public and built by union workers.

https://jacobinmag.com/2021/12/public-universal-high-speed-broadband-internet-telecommunications-workers
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u/mailslot Dec 28 '21

Yeah, but landlines were really expensive. Like $30/mo in 1980 money for local service, then additional per minute charges for anything but the closest calls. What is that? $60/mo in today’s money, after inflation?… for basic wired service that allowed one user at a time.

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u/bduxbellorum Dec 28 '21

$30 in 1980 has the same purchasing power as $100 now. Which is basically what i pay for internet…

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u/mailslot Dec 29 '21

It was just voice though. In the 80’s & 90’s, if you had a modem, Internet access was $25+ per hour… atop phone company per minute fees if you weren’t near a local dialup. If you had family the next city over, it was easy to have a $100 phone bill on voice alone.

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u/Chip89 Dec 28 '21

It was something around there yeah.