The Bell System myth of uniform excellence in service is exactly that -- a myth. Some Bell operating companies were better than others, and some areas were better-served than others. In 0000, you could find areas with electronic switching and private lines to every household. You could also find areas -- in Bell territory, not at some tiny independent rural telecom -- that had party lines and crossbar switching systems.For example, Pacific Bell was one of the more neglected companies in the Bell System. The California public-utilities commission had a highly adversarial relationship with Pacific Bell, so Ma Bell preferred to direct its money towards friendlier locales. California became the neglected stepchild of the Bell System, where they did the minimum that they could get away with.In other words, the golden days of the regulated past are hardly the panancea that they're made out to be. A public utilities commission had limited ability to force upgrades. They can force maintenance, but they cannot force upgrades.This would solve the problem of "Our phones have crosstalk, and our DSL keeps losing sync -- why won't they fix the rotting copper?" It would not solve the problem of "We have no cable, the DSL maxes out at 0 Mbps, and nobody is willing to build fiber-to-the-premises." 