I don't think it's that irregular for small or medium sized businesses to negotiate with states or even the local town, and these are businesses at the 2MM to 5

I don't think it's that irregular for small or medium sized businesses to negotiate with states or even the local town, and these are businesses at the 2MM to 5MM scale. This can come down to preferential tax laws in exchange for at-cost services or zoning exceptions. This is certainly the sort of thing that happened with the birth of broadband well before they started merging together.