They work REALLY REALLY hard to get people to use the website.
It's mostly older generations, they refuse to use a website for many of those basic things. A lot of it is an issue of trust, they just don't trust websites.
And the telcos make it REALLY REALLY hard to use the damn website.
I don't trust websites. Websites from regulated industries (banking, finance, telecom) are especially slow, confusing and poorly built. Totally understand why people avoid them when they know a better alternative.
When they have to pay $0.62/message, it cuts down on the crap.
I’m a member of a profession where you’re supposed to read all of their comms. Now that they’ve switched to email, they send way more crap that I have to sift through and I can’t block them.
Being (arguably) legitimate companies, their unsubscribe links actually do work.
Then there’s the emails saying: “your bill is ready”, but you gotta login to see what it is and open a PDF.
Paper is more convenient.
Most of the time I'm calling because my internet is down and I can't go to the website. Or I'm calling because I forgot my password for a website used once every N years.
90% of the time I'm calling, I wouldn't expect the website to have the information I need. Looking at Comcast's website I'm not inclined to look around and find out.