[CapstanRoller]

In my area (Washington State, USA) this doesn't happen.

If you ask for phone service, Comcast will sell you a "landline" that just consists of a combo box cable modem and VoIP ATA. You can buy it with internet access or without, and they still give you the same equipment. The ATA part gives you an analog phone line to connect to your house phone wiring, but everything outside the house runs over existing coax infrastructure.

Maybe I'm not asking the right questions? It seems exceedingly difficult to get services over actual copper.