> The current vertical integration of internet providers impedes any new competition

Wouldn't the government owning the service be the ultimate impediment to new competition?

I'm not defending ISPs, but lets not too quickly throw them under the bus.

Also, your casual throw-away comment:

> Most services that lend themselves to a natural monopoly ... should be implemented as a publicly run infrastructure

Requires the government forcibly taking over quite a few large companies.

That's a weighty request, and would be exactly the opposite of what we should want to see in the world.