In article ,
Frank frankdotlogullo@comcastperiodnet wrote:

I had heard of someone continuing rental.

For several years following the 1984 breakup of The Bell System, I
occasionally encountered a residential customer that continued to rent their
phone(s).

Then, some years ago, AT&T stopped billing for the relatively few residential,
single-line phones upon which they were still collecting rent. They simply
"walked away" from them - "abandoned (them) in place".
--

JR

Climb poles and dig holes
Have staplegun, will travel