[dv_dt]

For a utility like water or gas for which there is only a monopoly company providing it then yes, there are basic standards set by law because society recognizes the economic inefficiency of putting in duplicative physical infrastructure into that last-mile of linkage, as well as the economic difficulty of maintaining non-extractive prices without fundamental competition.

[mrlatinos]

But the internet is not a utility...

[nicoburns]

What makea you say that? I consider the internet a utility. I'm pretty sure the governments of many countries (including the UK where I live) do too.

[dv_dt]

Perhaps it would be useful to differentiate between the internet as a whole, and a last-mile service getting you access to the point where there is a fan-out of many different access options. As a whole, major parts of the internet do not have "utility" constraints, while wired end-point service certainly seems to have significant similarities in my mind.