FWIW shared phone lines and long waits were standard in the UK too, prior to ~19...

		bboreham on Nov 1, 2017 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Why the Soviet Union did not build a nationwide co... FWIW shared phone lines and long waits were standard in the UK too, prior to ~1980. I believe a combination of digital exchanges coming in and the privatisation of British Telecom fixed it.