The south-eastern Tennessee town of Chattanooga has some of the fastest internet connection speeds in the world, thanks to a fibre-optic network installed by the government-owned electric company, EPB.
The town, with a 2012 population of just more than 171,000, has used its internet speeds of over 1 gigabit per second to attract new businesses, including five venture capital funds with 2014 investment capital of more than $50m (ÂĢ30m), according to the Guardian.
Chattanooga's success is a testament to the power of government infrastructure investment, writes Daily Kos blogger Steven D.
It's also, he says, a threat to the private telecommunications monopolies, which are content to offer lower levels of service, "slowly draining the lifeblood out of our nation even as they steal whatever is left in our pocketbook".
He contends that private-sector malaise and greed are part of the reason why US internet speeds currently ranks behind 30 countries, including South Korea, Romania and most of Europe.
"Uruguayans have better internet service than citizens of the 'greatest nation on earth,'" he writes. "Pretty damn embarrassing, if not a big surprise."
Companies like Cox and Comcast are trying to prevent public utilities like EPB from competing directly with private internet providers, he says.
The companies argue that government-supported entities have an inherent competitive advantage over private businesses when they succeed and are a drain on government coffers when they fail.
Currently 20 states have laws placing limits on municipal broadband networks, according to Ars Technica, including strict prohibitions in Texas and Nevada.
Private telecommunications companies are also fighting to prevent Federal Communications Commission regulations that would make it easier for municipalities to circumvent these state rules.
"I have said before that I believe the FCC has the power - and I intend to exercise that power - to pre-empt state laws that ban competition from community broadband," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in May.