I disagree that it kneecapped deployment, unless Verizon and AT&T planned to block Netflix, or charge customers extra for access to Netflix. In which case, good. Net Neutrality specifically didn’t block rate increases, so if it made economic sense for Verizon to keep rolling out FIOS, they could have.
They didn’t plan to block NetFlix - but by the letter of the policy, they couldn’t run an extra cost content service on their network to help pay for the network expansion. That’s why all of these projects stopped. Verizon went even further and sold off all their non-East Coast landline networks to Frontier, which is the worst telco in America - and who is no longer expanding FIOS coverage and will run it into the ground instead.