That's where anti trust needs to come into play. Ma Bell all over again. It's not the political parties that are the problem but the corporates having too much power in one area. Interestingly enough it lead to the 80s telephone revolution with lots of choices.

We have had good phones from the 80s and 90s that lasted well into 2010. They stopped making parts for landlines in 1999 and by 2004 you could only get landlines from the Phillipines so chances are you had a phone from overseas as stores were slow to get rid of their stock. In 2010 some cities actually ripped their landlines completely.

In 2010 you had to go to used 2nd hand stores to even get landlines.