Comment by contingencies

Remember the Hacker Manifesto: What could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons.

The physical infrastructure of cable is not expensive. The fiber itself costs nothing in bulk. Currently a pair of 1Gbps 20km rated transceivers costs <USD$20 in bulk.

The only things that make installs expensive are: (1) regulation; in particular ingrained antiquated systems of land ownership and associated regulatory capture bullshit by established monopolies; (2) switching infrastructure and associated power, land and security requirements; and (3) one-time installation process costs such as trench digging, termination box installation and cable termination.

Once installed, the cables are unlikely to fail unless aggressively attacked with digging equipment.