Comment by jhugo

Not rare at all. I grew up in such a place (well, before WiFi, but now it has WiFi and still doesn’t have cell service), and have lived in two other houses like this. On holidays I have stayed in hundreds of places like this.

I remember in Berlin going to a bar where there was no cell service (some combination of poorly sited base stations and thick walls made of something dense). They of course offered free WiFi considering this.

Where I am now, there’s a section of beach full of cafes that has no cell service. If you walk 100m north or south it’s fine, but that bit is a dead zone. All the cafes have free WiFi.