this seems like a useless engagement in hair splitting for the purposes that don't actually make the original argument void.

My larger point here is that some time ago in the US the gov't decided it worth the time/expense to raise funds (tax) and pay entities to deploy 'telecom' (phone, which then became internet-paths, dial, and fine real-internet, dsl, etc) to 'the citizenry'.

It's probably time to discuss (hey,look we are!) the use of that same mechanism to raise the tide of internet access to the citizenry.
Sure, you can get forked over like Mr Mauch, or Mr Heasley... because the regulators/funders weren't careful enough... That sounds like a lesson to learn and correct.

This will likely be expensive, but in a very large portion (80+%) of the cases it won't actually be expensive to accomplish.

I understand that some folk may have to change their current plans.
I understand that some folk may need to engage in new technologies.

Those sound like opportunities to succeed.

-chris