[AnimalMuppet]

And the phone company? Aren't they a private company that uses private wires?

[throw0101a]

Most phone companies (and cables) were granted local monopolies that allowed them to build out infrastructure and amortized the cost over decades. (Actually, in the US, there was only a phone company for a long time: AT&T.)

These were regulated monopolies.

[aspenmayer]

Which came first, the monopoly or the regulatory capture?