I've actually gotten really interested in city-wide wifi mesh projects since all of this NN news is coming out. Kinda makes me want to share my 1G symmetric connection and build a mesh network with my neighbors somehow. I used to be really interested in mesh a long time ago but I have trouble finding what the best protocols are for building such a thing.

People keep forgetting that telecom is not a typical B2C market. Telecom is not like a lemonade stand - low barriers to entry, low cost of goods, no moats, etc. etc.

There is Huge capex, land rights, spectrum rights, compliance and more that have to be handled.

Just getting into it will not be possible - because any solution will require access to some limited transmission medium.

If it weren't for that single limit imposed by reality, this would be a different market.

The limitations you described are true for a wired approach to last mile internet delivery to every user.

You can get around these problems as a wireless ISP using spectrum in the public domain. Idea is that you beam connectivity to a router in each subscriber's home. You'll need to install nodes that connect a wireless network to fiber optic cables, but these connections are much more accessible than wiring up every building in a city.

Isn't that basically Google Fi? See post https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15769192 above for some examples of entrenched landline ISPs like AT&T interfering with this approach...