In contrast, those who had DSL and landline phone were back up again within hours.
Sorry, but I beg to differ... I was in Pensacola after Ivan, and in S Fla after Wilma, doing disaster recovery work for Bell South... I know for a fact that in Pensacola, there were thousands of customers without landline service for at least 6-8 weeks, and thousands in Broward County after Wilma who went without for at least 2-4 weeks, depending upon the neighborhood.
I was also in Port Charlotte working for my uncle's construction company after Charley doing free repair/volunteer work for dozens of residents over the course of about 6 weeks, and there were neighborhoods down there along the Peace River that didn't have power or landline service for over two months, compelling many of them to switch to satellite TV/Internet and drop landline service for good. (like my uncle and dad, who live in one of those neighborhoods)...
Once a disaster area is declared, those rules you refer to for landlines go right out the window.
However, by and large, cell phones were back up within 48 hours (if not sooner) in all three regions (using temp comm towers and relay trucks if need be), because that's what emergency response crews and recovery crews used to communicate when police radios were knocked out.