If the missing leg of the connection is truly that short, could there be an opportunity for inexpensive cooperative wireless mesh routing in neighborhoods with several outlet nodes onto more regulation-sparse fiber?
Or is 'last mile' just a euphemism for distances that in actuality are much larger?
* Interconnects
* Customer Support
* Pole Access
* Physical Plant
* Customer Premise Equipment (CPE)
Perhaps if the FCC would designate more long-range friendly frequencies as unlicensed, perhaps with slightly higher power limits, you could eliminate a few of those items?
Don't get me wrong -- there are many cooperatives very successfully running stable and competitive wireless mesh networks, but that model doesn't work very well in major metro areas, with lots of buildings, and very high-density users.
Sharing one beefy connection with 10-20 people in a few nearby houses would be a good first step because it's under the radar of the big telecomm companies and you can't be legally barred from sharing your connection?