If we're thinking of the same thing, they now make them with just one bar and call them a zipline.
There was one at a park near my old house, and there was always a line.
We got our first TV, and it was such a Big Deal that I decided to sneak upstairs and see what was on at 2am.
Either static or colored stripes was playing on every channel.
A few years ago the phone company was working on the junction box in our backyard. He said to reduce redundancy and avoid upgrading the whole underground phone system, they were switching landlines over to internet.
Originally, landlines were powered, so if the power went out the phones could still be used. They also had multiple routes, so if one section of line went down they could reroute through another.
When you called 911 through a landline, it was always available and they knew precisely where you...
But the landlines all go through the internet as well, and even in areas where they don't, 911 is likely to be net based. We had a landline at my old house. Power was out, but I figured the wall phone woukd be working so we could notify the power company...nope. Dead air. Not even a dial tone...