It is an old story for both wireless and fixed broadband provision, the question of reaching the last few per cent of the population and reducing the urban/rural digital divide. The US Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) is latest to weigh in with an estimate that it will cost an extra $36bn beyond what operators are willing to spend on infrastructure to establish true 5G ubiquity, as opposed to the nationwide coverage claimed by major MNOs on the basis of a certain proportion of the population reached. Such ubiquity, the CCA would contend, is desirable not just to reach those relatively small numbers of people living in the most remote areas, but also to ensure that many others are able to…