This is an early and important example of #PredatoryInclusion: the monopoly carriers delivered universal service to all of us, but that was a prelude to an ugly. parasitic, rent-seeking way of doing business:

https://lpeproject.org/blog/predatory-inclusion-a-long-view-of-the-race-for-profit/

It wasn't just the phone that came with an unlimited price-tag: everything you did with the phone was also a la carte, like the bananas-high long-distance charges, or even per-minute charges for *local* calls.

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