I disagree with your idea that Google would want to buy Verizon; “They could take matters into their own hands by, say, buying one of the Pipes or sharing more of their revenue with them.”

As greedy as Apple and Google are, there’s no way that they would foot the bill for maintaining or building out the infrastructure needed to expand their networks. Maybe if Verizon declared bankruptcy either Apple or Google would come in and pretend to be a “white knight” while they strip the company bare, layoff all non-essentials, and run the company into the ground as a cash cow until the government stepped in to protect the public from these pirates.