Tethering to 5G and LTE enabled cell phones in this situation is very common. They are certainly getting rid of their broadband fiber, cable or DSL before their discounted cell services.
AT&T, for example, defaults to a 5GB limit: https://www.att.com/plans/tethering/ - you could easily hit that limit from watching a couple hours' of Netflix.
And to preempty classist pearl-clutching: I maintain people on low-income assistance programs should/must have the same effective right to watch Netflix as anyone else.
I'm not necessarily against subsidies, FWIW. Schools near me have all but mandated you have Internet at home. If that's going to be the case, it needs to be available. Maybe a bare minimum speed(few mbps?) free tier?
"people who truly need a subsidy to afford internet access" could be using someone else's subscription.
That would be "no right" then because there is no such thing as a "right" to a commercial service. It is a privilege which can be acquired by paying for the service. I do not pay for Netflix nor for any other such service so I can not watch it.