When my rural town finally got fiber internet last year, I expected a seamless digital life — but I still can't stream a video without buffering during peak hours because the backbone connection to the city is oversubscribed. Is investing in last-mile infrastructure really enough if the middle-mile and backbone networks remain congested? I've read that rural areas often have fiber to the home but insufficient upstream capacity, and my own speed tests show download speeds drop by 60% at 8 PM. Maybe the real bottleneck isn't the fiber in the ground but the political will to fund core network upgrades — what do you think: should we prioritize expanding access over improving existing connections, or is that a false choice?