'Wireless fiber' may bring an end to those awful internet provider monopolies

Internet providers are increasingly embracing a technology that provides fast, reliable connections in areas across the country that lack it.

Currently, outdated laws allow providers to have monopolies over certain regions. This is due to pre-deployment barriers, in which local government and public utility officials overcharge for "rights of way" or "pole attachment fees" in certain regions. These fees can sometimes run double what it costs to merely lay cables. The Washington Post last year wrote about Chattanooga, Tennessee, where providers had been fighting for years to expand their network a tenth-of-a-mile.

Enter cellular internet, or "wireless fiber," which does away with cables and wires running to individual residences. Instead, it relies on cell tower technology, which isn't exactly cheap, but does wirelessly connect to many homes from one wireless connection with Google Fiber or Verizon Fios capacities. Additionally, the method is much cheaper than dealing with all of the "rights of way" bureaucracy.

It's similar to adding range extenders or WiFi routers to one's home network, but for people who live on the borders of a provider's region.

As exciting a promise as that may be, providers are still experimenting to iron out the kinks. AT&T will be conducting field tests in Austin soon, as well as in Middletown, New Jersey. The company is is promising speeds 50 to 100 times greater than 4G LTE. Verizon will also be testing cellular Internet, but in Euless, Texas; Framingham, Massachusetts and South Plainfield, New Jersey. With that in mind, commercial availability is likely a few years down the road.