>I actually tried to get a landline. Only thing available was a a DOCSIS modem for encapsulating VoIP traffic. And yet, the landlines still exist, fully built

>I actually tried to get a landline. Only thing available was a a DOCSIS modem for encapsulating VoIP traffic. And yet, the landlines still exist, fully built out right to the homes they serve. They're owned by (in theory) the US public which paid to construct that entire network. Because of the years of use and the need for universal service, it's still the most extensive network infrastructure that exists in the US, period. But access to them has been closed off by corporations who don't want competition and don't have a problem paying to get the laws in the US changed to suit their profits. They don't sell ordinary copper land lines themselves any more because selling such a cheap product would compete with their higher priced "low end" offerings. They don't let anyone else use the POTS network because that would also compete with them. You can transmit a lot of data over a plain old pair of copper wires point to point, can't have anyone but the phone companies doing that because it would "cause problems" for the POTS network. They've claimed monopolies almost everywhere, subsidies from the government and tax breaks from the states in exchange for providing "internet access" to places that don't have good connections, like rural areas. There's no one else the country can ask to do that sort of thing because they fight against allowing anyone else access to the network, yet whenever they're asked to produce, they claim they need to be given more money. Wait a few years and repeat, over and over. Telecommunications companies in the US are some of the most corrupt organizations that exist. It's astonishing that people ignore them as long as they have good cell signal.