u/MajorConstant5549

I recently moved to a rural mountain area and am trying to upgrade from my current coax setup ($65/mo for 74/4 Mbps).

Government-funded fiber was recently run in the area, so I contacted the ISP to see if I could get hooked up. A site engineer came out and told me the main fiber line currently terminates right at the top of the hill where my driveway starts, about 400+ feet from my house. He claimed that because of government grant terms, that’s exactly where their funded buildout was told to stop.

To bridge the gap to my house, they offered me two choices:

1. Pay $2,300 upfront for the installation.
2. Sign a 3-year agreement for 1 Gbps service at $89/mo, and they will waive the fee.

A 1 Gig plan is complete overkill for my needs. During the site engineer's visit, he said he was going to propose running the fiber further down the street to capture a few more houses down the road. When I spoke to the salesperson, she slipped and mentioned 2,000 ft. My house is not 2,000 ft from the pole where the fiber terminates.

I'm thinking the ISP is using my request to fund a main line street extension. It feels like they want to lock me into a 3-year contract to offset their construction costs, while my neighbors down the street will benefit from the fiber on the street without having to agree to a contract.

I’m new to living in a very rural area, so I’m not sure how the game is played out here.

Is it normal for an ISP to make one homeowner subsidize a main line extension for the whole street?

Has anyone dealt with this and successfully negotiated them down to just charging for the private driveway drop?

Appreciate any insight or advice!