because despite what talk radio may assert, the function of regulating agencies is not to supress improved modern technology.
the only time i ever lost any coverage on my cell due to a storm was when a lightning bolt popped the cell tower near my home.
blizzards, high wind, and floods all make mincemeat out of copper threads hanging from sticks anyways and buried copper is more durable but takes forever to fix when it does get wrecked.