Has Wheeler ever seriously suggested this? This seems like needless speculation. My understanding was that Wheeler's proposal specifically omits that authority.
Assuming investors are ignorant is convenient, but it may be a situation where many investors were avoiding that industry because of the regulatory uncertainty. Part of that uncertainty could be the possibility of the government encouraging competition. In fact, this legislation defines how they can operate the networks but does nothing to change the oligopoly of vendors or the barriers to entry new competitors might face. An investor, then, could reasonably view this as the entry point to an established oligopoly without the fear of future government regulation disrupting that, at least over the next decade or so.