My telephone exchange is digital now:
I cannot dial my own number, hang up and have it ring anymore.
I cannot dial a special number, hang up and have it ring anymore.
I cannot call somebody then make their phone line busy forever if I do not hang up anymore (some businesses did that to competitor's phone lines).
I pay a monthly fee for my telephone line. Local calls are free. Incoming calls are free. Outgoing long disance calls are charged by the second from the time the distant caller answers.
My telephone lines, cable TV and high speed internet cable, electricity wires, natural gas pipe and sewer pipes are hidden under the ground.