Without SpaceX, you're in a world where each LEO launch costs $500M and the tech is not good enough for handovers so you make that even worse by going to GEO.

Without SpaceX, you're in a world where each LEO launch costs $500M and the tech is not good enough for handovers so you make that even worse by going to GEO. Even without being an ISP it is a monumental challenge to overcome.