Right - the essential problem here is that the "economic infeasibility" standard is impossible to overcome. Most businesses are looking at impact at the margin

Right - the essential problem here is that the "economic infeasibility" standard is impossible to overcome. Most businesses are looking at impact at the margin - is opening up in this new market going to be profitable or not? On the other hand, it's not economically infeasible to extend FTTH to any given area I decide to point out, it's just a question of how many unprofitable areas you'd have to service before your business as a whole failed. Presumably at that point, you'd meet the economic infeasibility standard. No-one can run a business that way; literally no-one.