This is not specific to them. I am getting $6k back for each fiber connection I have connected, paid by the FCC. I don't know the name of the program.
Journalists be like "oh no they gave money to big company" "oh no they gave money to small company without know-how" "oh no he's billionaire he should build Internets for free"
TLDR: More or a whiny rant than anything resembling facts or data
Government bureaucracy in action.
It's hard to avoid not wasting 8000$ when spending billions...
8000./9000000000. == 8.888888888888889e-07
Scaled to a $150,000 salary, this would amount to a waste of 13 cents.