Fiber ― The Coming Tech Revolution--And Why America Might Miss It

An illuminating vision of the next information revolution, centered on a fiber-optic infrastructure

The world of 5G, the next generation of telecommunication technology, will be as different from what came before as the world after the advent of electricity. The massive amounts of data we’ll be able to stream through fiber-optic connections will enable a degree of virtual presence that will radically transform health care, education, urban administration and services, agriculture, retail sales, and offices. Yet all of those transformations will pale in comparison to the innovations that we can’t even imagine today.

In a fascinating account combining legal expertise with compelling on-the-ground reporting, Susan Crawford reveals how the giant corporations that control cable and internet access in the United States use their tremendous lobbying power to tilt the playing field against competition, holding back the infrastructure improvements necessary for the country to move forward. And she shows how a few cities and towns are fighting monopoly power to bring the next technological revolution to their communities.

Susan Crawford is the John A. Reilly Clinical Professor at Harvard Law School and a co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. She served as special assistant to the president for science, technology, and innovation policy in 2009. She lives in New York City.