Distinguishing between edge content provider market power and natural monopoly of telecom distribution infrastructure

The Tech Antitrust Problem No One Is Talking About | WIRED: 

After years of building political pressure for antitrust scrutiny of major tech companies, this month Congress and the US government delivered. The House Antitrust Subcommittee released a report accusing Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook of monopolistic behavior. The Department of Justice filed a complaint against Google alleging the company prevents consumers from sampling other search engines. The new fervor for tech antitrust has so far overlooked an equally obvious target: US broadband providers. “If you want to talk about a history of using gatekeeper power to harm competitors, there are few better examples,” says Gigi Sohn, a fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy.

When it comes to antitrust, it's important to distinguish between FAANG edge content providers and commercially owned and operated advanced telecommunications infrastructure. The major difference is the former isn't a natural monopoly. However, landline telecom infrastructure that connects to customer premises functions as a natural monopoly due to high capital cost barriers and long duration return on investment that tends to keep would be competitors out. Moreover, competition among multiple sellers isn't economically rational as Investopedia describes:

Multiple utility companies wouldn't be feasible since there would need to be multiple distribution networks such as sewer lines, electricity poles, and water pipes for each competitor. Since it's economically sensible to have utilities operate as natural monopolies, governments allow them to exist. However, the industry is heavily regulated to ensure that consumers get fair pricing and proper services.

In other words, competitive market forces cannot function to ensure access and value in a natural monopoly market. Both are frequently missing in advanced telecom distribution infrastructure, with uneven access due to sell side market failure.  

Antitrust assumes competition is possible and thus is intended to check a seller from attaining too much market power and promote competition. But it's an impossible undertaking in natural monopoly market like advanced telecom distribution infrastructure where competitive market forces don't come into play.