Maybe the public would get a better deal fiscally. Would having to change APIs every 17 months as providers change their terms, constantly having to deal with

Maybe the public would get a better deal fiscally. Would having to change APIs every 17 months as providers change their terms, constantly having to deal with breaking changes, etc, etc, etc be a "better deal"? There's an advantage in stability, and that's one thing governments typically provide. Yes, you can argue "a private provider could provide stability... for a fee". Which works great until it turns out even the fee isn't enough to keep them around. And you have to switch providers. Again.