There are interesting tests going on in some metros for consolidated MANs (Metropolitan Area Networks) that utilize switching equipment in most big city communication hubs (hospitals, for example) that act as isolated networks for business continuity purposes.
Large MANs in relatively close proximity to one another (i.e. Tampa and Orlando in Florida) could be linked through several major providers’ fiber backbones. Those backbones could provide fast Internet routes to other MANs with redundant discrete paths to provide fault tolerance. Laggy over long distances, but fast in the metro.
As government takes over the Internet, we’ll have to rely on local resources to connect. A good example of this is HAM radio. The HAM radio community is on the wane, but I’m of the belief that any true survival-minded American should be familiar with HAM radio operations. The government may license the airwaves, but they can’t shut them down.
As such, if we can build up a consumer market for personal wireless hubs that can ad-hoc with others in the area without any centralization (think: P2P), we can continue to communicate regardless of Internet connection availability. The Chinese can (illegally) circumvent their government web control through the use of satellite technology. The same could be applied here.
“The government may license the airwaves, but they can’t shut them down.”
Well, yes, they can. They have jammers that can jam the entire frequency spectrum.
In my neighborhood I can see thirty other routers.
It would be interesting to see what would happen if everybody in a city had an open mesh router. I'm not talking about sharing Internet access, I'm talking about using the mesh network as a local version of the Interwebs. If you could connect the local open mesh webs of all major cities together government control would be thwarted. About all they could do is use jammers.