In the last thirty years, the computing world has changed so much, that it is hard to remember the logic of roles and rules that existed and still drive the basis of law and leadership when it comes to telecommunication. Telecom has always been a service that has made a distinction between service and use. Telecom services were deliberately limited to enable the maximum amount of people to use the services for whatever activities they choose.
Enabling the network to be ubiquitous was accomplished by aggregating the costs of service between local services and long distance services. The cost of providing the connection (the local loop) was harmonized as much as possible with statewide loop costs and subsidization from the long distance market. However with the ubiquity achieved the opportunity to support specialized services enabled for the early focus of the Internet to be about the signaling on top of the phone network and not inside it.
A primary reason why the issues of the phone network were of no concern was that IP was distance insensitive, and connecting at the closest point on the phone network through dial up or private line was pretty efficient.
Now the technology and cost models of access are intertwined and efficiency in the network is not represented in any particular type of fee structure. Nor is there a clear distinction between accessing a service via the phone network, or an "Internet" service that replaces the phone network.