Final answer:
High-speed Internet connections and automobile highways can be compared as both having characteristics of public goods, though they might involve user fees, like tolls. They both are essential parts of modern infrastructure, but net neutrality raises questions about the equality of access to Internet services.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question compares the infrastructure for high-speed Internet connections with automobile highways. Both infrastructures serve to connect individuals and enable the flow of goods or information. Highways and Internet connections can be seen as analogous in several ways, but one of the key similarities is that they may both be considered public goods to some extent. Public goods are those that are freely accessible to everyone, like a city park, but may have aspects that require a fee, similar to parking fees in a park.
In terms of highways, these are generally funded by taxpayer dollars, making them public goods. However, some roads are toll roads where users pay a fee, which makes them toll goods. High-speed Internet connections, meanwhile, are typically provided by private companies but are integral to daily life and the economy, similar to how highways are essential for transportation. The debate around net neutrality and whether Internet service providers should be able to charge for different speeds of service is analogous to a tiered system of highways where certain lanes are faster for those who can afford to pay more.
With reference to the provided options, Both are considered public goods (C) is the option that most closely aligns with how both infrastructure systems can be perceived—while not entirely accurate as they both have aspects that are toll goods, the comparison suggests that they play similar roles in society, being essential for the functioning of modern life and, to varying extents, accessible to the public.