They’re not still everywhere?
We have landline phone and internet(dsl) and the lines are all buried. They even bury fiber optic for future use but the phone guy laughed when I asked him how soon we’d have fiber optic internet so I probably won’t see it in my lifetime.
When we get storms that knock down trees that fall on electric lines, we still have phone and internet or at least we did. I need to get a new set of batteries for the battery bank. We didn’t get electric until three years after moving on to the property but had phone and internet the first year. Electric required clearing an easement but since phone/dsl get’s buried, it didn’t. We had a few solar panels and the battery bank and an inverter that ran the dsl modem/router and a cordless phone. Also LED lighting, TV with streaming and a 12vdc chest freezer/fridge. We wouldn’t know the electric was out unless I neighbor told us. It was kinda nice really.
I don’t know if the phone company has a backup generator but I would think so. They’re probably at the top of the list for electric co repair priority, just below hospitals. Of course if some huge transformer(s) that runs half the State goes out ... The ones that take months to make and are not kept in stock.
Half my family has opted to only go with cell phones. Most people have gone with just the cells. They can get landlines, but choose not to.
“They even bury fiber optic for future use”
If/when the “future use” time comes and they switch you over, maybe they’ll ask you if you want to switch or not. Say “no”. (You may not have a choice.)
Last year after laid fiber optic cable in our subdivision, we were switched automatically. When that happened, we lost the ability to use the landline when the power went out. The old POTS (plain old telephone service) didn’t rely on electricity. When I called AT&T, the rep said the fiber optic service needed power. (Pissed me off. I loved that landline and the phone, too.)
Anyhow, we disconnected landline because it worked during power outages, which were/are frequent in our area. But if there’s an outage only impacting comms and not other utilities, it would still be handy. And you also could use a fax.