Ever fire up your wireless connection in your home only to see three or four other wireless networks pop up? This gives me the thought of cooperative broadband for small communities. The concept is simple: Work out a payment plan with your local neighbors, perhaps 5 - 10 maximum, to chip in and share broadband access from one household.
With 802.11g routers costing less than $100 and wireless cards even less, there is no reason that one couldn't share broadband with the closest neighbors, share in the $40 - $50 / month fees and enable more people to have high speed access.
Another thought might be to create a wider range hotspot in residential areas.
One problem: It's unlikely that the cable or DSL companies would appreciate their service being split for all to use. Perhaps a residential / commercial agreement is in order.
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There is one reason, the residential contract with your ISP probably prevents it. Tecnologically, there is no reaon not to, unless you need high bandwidth for some reason.
If a group of people got an appropriate commercial broadband package, and implement means to bar access from those not a member of the co-op or abusing membership, it would be probably doable.
I've thought about doing this, but the main drawback is that if someone had trouble connecting to the network, they would come knocking on my door to fix it, and I don't have the time to deal with it. Once people start paying for a service, they expect service.
Nowadays there are at least two ways to share broadband. Spanish www.fon.com and Swedish www.oxyfi.com. They both share the same main philosophy but Oxyfi seems to be focused more on residential customers whereas Fon is a substitute for 3G and hot-spots providers.
One of my roommates shares his connection wirelessly with the other ten of us. To this network, I added a print server, so everyone can use my laser printer (set in a common area). Although we've had the connection black out for everyone, the system works well for everyone.
First Problem: Who is liable for downloading kiddie porn?
Second Problem: Related to wide area wi-fi. A router might be tweeked to be able to send a higher power signal (FCC violation). However, I don't think anyone is going to want to pay the associated $10,000 fine. The power level is regulated which limits use to about 300 feet without obstructions and about 60 feet within buildings.
You can purchase a T1 line and charge customers for the connection legitimately. Comcast will work with you in the hopes of getting more customers because everyone is still going to want the cable tv connection.