Having a profitability above zero doesn't mean much. Nobody is going to invest billions a year in a telecom network to not make any money on it. The fact that Google can do it in a handful of markets selected for their willingness to grant massive regulatory concessions,[1] doesn't meant that they could deliver that service at that price if they had to operate at the scale Comcast does, with the regulatory constraints Comcast is subject to, and with the need to please shareholders without leaning on cloud services synergy.
[1] This issue is important but underappreciated here on HN. Uptake rate is a key driver for the cost/benefit analysis of investing in telecom infrastructure. The cost of building out to a neighborhood dominates the cost term. So how many people in each neighborhood sign up has a huge impact on your per user cost. Google only builds out to fiberhoods with demonstrated interest. In most cities, Comcast is legally prevented from doing this.
[1] This issue is important but underappreciated here on HN. Uptake rate is a key driver for the cost/benefit analysis of investing in telecom infrastructure. The cost of building out to a neighborhood dominates the cost term. So how many people in each neighborhood sign up has a huge impact on your per user cost. Google only builds out to fiberhoods with demonstrated interest. In most cities, Comcast is legally prevented from doing this.