> I guess I don't quite see how it's more transparent. What information would it provide, and to whom, that the current system obscures? And is the issue whether we call it a "tax" vs. "build-out requirement", or is the issue what is being taxed (land use vs. revenue from local customers vs. ...)?
The transparency issue is that a build-out requirement isn't denominated in dollars. (There are other economic efficiency arguments, such as if the poor people would rather have the money than the cable connection, but I'm addressing your question on transparency.)
A cable company has much more expertise than a local government for what the long-run costs and potential profits are for a build-out requirement, and moreover they have a much higher incentives to apply their expertise to the local situation than a politician. If you institute a build-out rule, it does so without knowing the size of the costs; they are simply imposed silently. Any future public debate about revising the rule is enfeebled.
> I can't picture what such a tax would look like, how it would really differ from the status quo, and why it would result in better service -- walk me through it.
The company is charged $X per year to use public rights of way. The government hands this money to the poor people who can choose to buy cable connections or not. (If they don't, this is a sign that they have something better to use the money on.) If the government doesn't trust the poor people to use the money responsibly, then the government directly subsidizes their cable connection fees instead.
> Well, I take it that there are some relevant differences here, as qq66 pointed out. Internet access is infrastructure, and increasingly, it is essential; access to Coca-Cola is not. I think the government has some obligation to avoid creating a disparity between haves and have-nots for infrastructure like this. It's not the only consideration, but that is one reason build-out requirements are appropriate for broadband companies, while not for soda vendors.
You missed the point. I wasn't saying that we should have build-out requirements for soda, I was saying that if we use a tax instead, then we can take the subsidizing resources from anyone rather than just a company in the field whose customers we wish to help. This would allows us much greater flexibility in getting those resources in a non-distortive way.
> whether that comes in the form of build-out requirements, a fund for cleanup fees, or whatever.
A fund for cleanup fees is completely different idea, and indeed is generally economically sensible. (Clean up fees are about correctly pricing externalities. Build out requirements are about getting one group of people to subsidize another.)
> A story I've seen again and again is public land rights being granted to a private company, which subsequently damages the land and then tries to stick the public with the bill.
This has nothing to do with the topic. I've seen people litter all the time in public spaces. Should I institute the loud-car ban because some people have littered in the past?