The dismantling is usually faster in other countries, as Telcoms owning this equipment either are or were state owned monopolies. In the US, the payphones were probly owned and swapped and back and forth between myriad providers.

Kudos for pulling all these into one database

I still have a copper landline direct to a real central office; for my Mother in Law. $60/month and the phone company made it very difficult to setup 3 years ago; they really don't seem to want to be a phone company anymore.

Pulse dialing still works, and the automated voicemail system that the CO switch runs has zero perceptible latency (unfortunately, they won't give me the PIN to set it up)