Back when the Internet stock bubble was going on, many miles of fiber optic cable were laid at investor expense, not the government. It was mostly long distance cable links and duplication of routes became a problem. Many lines went dark as unneeded when the bubble broke.
This government money for cable seems to be for rural areas, but the definition may be guided by political pressure. Rural lines are expensive to lay as the customers per mile are few. I’d like to see the fiber optic expansion done in urban suburbs and peripheries as well as rural to get more customers per mile.
Fiber optic makes cable Internet and TV faster and land line telephone faster as well.
I think they no longer want the rural areas “internetted”.
Think of this, in urban areas where bribery and corruption and union thuggery is stongest, this stimulus money will go to feed local politicians and the new commisars (oops czars)