I'm not from the US but it seems like there's nothing stopping the big telcos from partnering with those same municipalities and offering a sweeter deal than Google does, is there?
If anything, their existing infrastructure, from the age of the telegraph, gives them a huge competitive advantage over anyone coming in, with or without municipal involvement...
IMO government's role should not be the protection of some specific business, it should be about improving the lives of the citizens, partly through improving infrastructure. If big company X goes broke while this happens why should we care? So billionaire Y will make more while billionaire Z makes less?
If anything, their existing infrastructure, from the age of the telegraph, gives them a huge competitive advantage over anyone coming in, with or without municipal involvement...
IMO government's role should not be the protection of some specific business, it should be about improving the lives of the citizens, partly through improving infrastructure. If big company X goes broke while this happens why should we care? So billionaire Y will make more while billionaire Z makes less?