This paper explains the reasons for communications infrastructure underdevelopment historically, taking into account the myriad ways governments, usually through national universal service mechanisms, have attempted to correct the underprovision and positing why this opportunity to create global broadband infrastructure has surfaced. In essence, this portion of the paper explains the last mile problem that innovative infrastructure projects purport to solve. It then describes the broadband infrastructure projects, the consequences of multi-jurisdictional regulatory complexities for bringing the projects to market, and the disruptive potential of the infrastructure to change the economics of broadband access and provision. Lastly, it considers whether the companies are indeed solving the last mile problem beyond mere provision. Accordingly, the potential impacts of Internet access are surveyed using Amartya Sen’s capability approach, which seeks to place the individual and his or her freedom at the center of development.
The paper originated in what was then the IILJ Colloquium: “International Law of Google” and is now the Guarini Colloquium: Regulating Global Digital Corporations. It got published in the Georgetown Law Technology Review, Vol. 4 (2019), 47-123.
