"It wasn't even that long ago that mobile phones didn't exist, and it was common for an entire household to share one fixed-line telephone number." And not lon

"It wasn't even that long ago that mobile phones didn't exist, and it was common for an entire household to share one fixed-line telephone number." And not long before that, it was common for several homes to share one fixed-line telephone number. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_(telephony) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_(telephony)